


page six lovers

by az49



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Dahyun Ace, F/F, Fluff and Humor, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, It All Ends Well, Minor Chou Tzuyu/Son Chaeyoung, Minor Im Nayeon/Yoo Jeongyeon, jihyo-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:53:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 29,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27670957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/az49/pseuds/az49
Summary: Enter! A team of nine newbies thrown into the world of monsters and men– two big babies that are licensed to wield swords, two maniacs specializing in daggers, an archer roped in the mess by two geniuses, a mage who deals more magical damage to their leader than to monsters, and Park Jihyo, an acolyte who'd rather punch monsters into oblivion than pray for their souls. What was their guild master thinking, lumping them all together?Or: it's a mess, but they make it work.
Relationships: Hirai Momo/Myoui Mina, Minatozaki Sana/Park Jisoo | Jihyo
Comments: 32
Kudos: 84
Collections: Jihyo Ships Ficfest





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Idk, I just wanted to make a sahyo fic but my head got too loud and resulted into this mess. 
> 
> Also, [tumblr](http://azer-az49.tumblr.com)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “We have–” Sana paused, if she was in deep thought or was just being dramatic, Jihyo didn’t know. “– one night; and one more time?”

It was a quarter past midnight, and Jihyo couldn’t sleep. Well, Jihyo always had trouble sleeping but this time, it was because a certain unit under her team failed to return. She glanced at the moon, pale and bright– and full.

_Just like her eyes._

A certain orange-haired woman wormed her way into Jihyo’s mind and the image of her face didn’t help at all. No, not when that orange-haired woman happened to be part of the missing unit.

“Goddamnit.”

Jihyo shifted her eyes from looking up to the moon and went to look down on the streets below. It helped her relax, perching on their rooftop. If five-year-old Jihyo would be told that she’d be leading her own team in the future, kid-Jihyo would not believe it. Jihyo didn’t have a plan to become a fighter, and no way did she have plans on entering the academy. But that was then, and this was now. Things changed, and if it was for the better– Jihyo didn’t want to know.

Kookeu, Nayeon’s wolf (everyone else would beg to differ, but Nayeon _insists_ that the big dog is a wolf), stood up from the ground and looked at Jihyo expectantly. Jihyo noticed it immediately, because Kookeu was the only thing that moved in her field of vision. Then, the wolf started sniffing the air. One bark directed at Jihyo and Jihyo was already standing in attention. Another bark, but this time, Kookeu already started moving, _running_ , down the east street. Not to be left behind, Jihyo jumped off the ledge, focusing her energy to her feet to land safely. She felt for the brass knuckles in her pocket, and put them on while already running to the direction where the wolf went.

“Hey there buddy! Did you miss us?” Jihyo heard it first before she saw them, and in that instant she felt a great burden being lifted off her shoulders. She ran even faster, and only slowed down when she could make out three human-sized shadows. Jihyo pocketed the brass knuckles– she’d save the beating for later. Right now, she was just happy to know they’re alive.

“You idiots!” A greeting that only their leader could give.

“Eh?!” They really must have been tired, because out of all of them in the team, Mina and Momo were the least ones to be caught off-guard. But tonight, that wasn’t the case. When the two thieves saw Jihyo’s face under the streetlight, they relaxed. A split second later, their faces panicked. Their hopes of creeping in the barracks to get a good night’s sleep before the lashing were vaporized by the look Jihyo gave them.

“We can explain–”

“The orcs, funny story–”

“Can we do this in the morning? We haven’t slept in a bed for two weeks.” It was Sana, bold, brave, beautiful Sana who was probably the only one who could openly contest their team leader. Also, worn, filthy, with a tattered cloak Sana who just might be sporting numerous bruises on her arms and legs.

—

Jihyo dismissed them shortly after they arrived at the barracks. She couldn’t help but frown as Mina and Momo made their way up to their floor, with Momo leaning on to Mina as she walked with a limp. Sana wordlessly tugged on Jihyo’s hand, already making her way up as well.

Sana’s bruises, Jihyo learned, as the she ripped off the sorry excuse for clothing Sana had on, didn’t stop at the arms and legs. There were two on Sana’s stomach. When Sana positioned herself on Jihyo’s lap, making Jihyo rake Sana’s back in response, she could trace one big gash at the back. Whatever orcs they encountered did a number on them, and Jihyo couldn’t help but growl in dissatisfaction.

“Do the bruises turn you on?” Sana whispered in Jihyo’s ear.

“God no.” Another growl.

Sana gave a smile before claiming Jihyo’s lips, and Jihyo would never admit it, but she missed how the mage would kiss her senseless. Call it corny, but Jihyo would swear on Odin’s powers that Sana did some kind of magic on her every time they were together.

Sana’s hands were always cold to touch, and it only proved beneficial to Jihyo whenever they’d make their way around Jihyo’s body. Hairs standing on end, it was like her body was anticipating where the cold hands would travel next. Contrastingly, it made Jihyo’s core burn in want. And when Sana would tweak her nipples just so, it would send courses of lightning to Jihyo’s body.

“Ah, ah, Sana.” Jihyo panted, her own hands busy as well– with one hand securing Sana from falling from her lap, and the other creeping in between their bodies to trace random lines on the inside of Sana’s thighs.

“Higher, Hyo.” Jihyo was an excellent soldier. She was never the type to be told things twice. But it was different with Sana. Sana, who promised to lead the unit well and return well before their set date. Sana, who arrived a whole week past the date, with no correspondence at all, and with the entirety of the unit injured.

“Beg for it.” Jihyo was angry, sure.

She could feel Sana getting angry as well, with Sana grinding harder on to Jihyo’s thigh. If Jihyo was an excellent soldier, Sana was a master tactician. Sana spread her legs a little wider, adjusted the angle of Jihyo’s thighs with her own, and started grinding on it again. Only this time, Jihyo could feel the wetness from Sana _slapping_ on to her thigh every time Sana made contact. Her lips were busy as well, nibbling and sucking Jihyo’s neck. Hands too– concentrated on Jihyo’s mounds, they were doing an alternate of twisting and caressing.

“No.” Sana was definitely angry.

One of the icy hands was now tracing random nothings on Jihyo’s waist, doing sinusoidal patterns that made Jihyo mad. Up, down, up, down. A couple of inches more downward. Close to where Jihyo’s wanted it to be, and then, up again. Jihyo’s cry of protest was cut short when she felt Sana’s tongue tracing the edges of her nipple. First the left, and then the right. The damned hand went lower again, and Jihyo managed to time a thrust perfectly. Sana’s finger managed to touch the engorged clit, sending another wave of lightning.

“Sana.” It was an order, and the mage laughed it off.

Frustrated, Jihyo switched their positions. Sana was now lying on the bed, her hair sprawled out, arms and legs extended, beckoning Jihyo to do whatever she wanted to do. A smirk from Sana was all it took for Jihyo to loose all semblance of control.

Their lips met again, and Jihyo easily slipped two fingers in. Sana couldn’t concentrate on kissing Jihyo, no, not when all she could do was moan as Jihyo moved her fingers in and out, always driving it knuckle-deep. It didn’t matter, Jihyo was enjoying hearing the moans of the orange-haired woman and to see Sana writhing under her was a sight for sore eyes. It was Jihyo’s turn to pay respect to Sana’s mounds, giving each of them equal attention. One had her lips attached to, while the other had her free hand’s attention. Picking up the pace, Jihyo began thumbing down on Sana’s clit whenever she’d drive back her fingers in and Sana liked it. When Sana stopped giving out moans, Jihyo knew she was close. All the moans were stuck in her mouth now, but Jihyo could understand the pleas in Sana’s eyes.

Jihyo was angry, but hearing Sana’s moans calmed her. Calmed her enough to let Sana come, anyway.

Riding down from her high, Sana pried away Jihyo’s hands from her center and pulled down Jihyo to meet hers. She could see her leader’s eyes close shut, enjoying the feeling of their wetness meeting. Sana closed her eyes as well, opting to feel every inch of Jihyo. She set the pace, grinding their hips together. Jihyo followed it blindly, replying in moans.

Jihyo always had trouble sleeping, but after the relief on seeing her missing unit that night and on the _relief_ Sana gave, she managed to go off to dreamland as soon as both her and Sana exhausted their energies.

—

“Your stealth unit got ambushed by orcs?” Jinyoung, their guild master, was clearly not buying the report Jihyo gave.

“Yes, guild master. The stealth unit’s original mission was to free Landlord Oh’s daughter that was kidnapped by orcs residing southwest of the orc forest. The group of orcs that ambushed them were from another tribe, a tribe believed to be from the northern area.”

“But they were ambushed… when they were already on their way home? The Oh daughter was already returned to her family. Safely.” Jinyoung scanned the correspondence from Landlord Oh in disbelief. “Not even a scratch on his daughter’s shoes! Here, he’s praising the unit and even added a thousand zeny just because.”

“That is the official correspondence that 3rd class mage Minatozaki turned over to me, yes.” _Please don’t ask any further questions. Please._

“Make sure they train harder to avoid such unnecessary complications. Please get them checked out at the infirmary.” Jihyo breathed in a sigh of relief. “I want a report at the end of the day on their health. I have a pending job that should fit your team well, but I’ll make the necessary adjustments if the stealth unit would be advised to rest.”

Jihyo bowed deeply, and then placed a bag on top of the guild master’s table. “The additional payment, guild master.”

“It’s alright. They earned it.” Jinyoung waved it off, and gave Jihyo a nod to dismiss the team leader.

_No, they fucking did not._

—

Nayeon’s laughter could be heard from the hallway, and Jihyo couldn’t help but roll her eyes. If Nayeon was going to laugh at the stealth unit’s stupidity, then let it be. They deserved to be humiliated.

“You stole a roasted pig from a group of orcs?” Dahyun, who was busy bandaging Momo’s leg asked. It didn’t need to be answered, because Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung joined in with Nayeon’s laugh as well.

“Really. I’m not surprised that it was Momo’s idea and that Sana supported it but you, Mina” Tzuyu’s normally impassive look had a slight tint of disbelief “Why would you ever think stealing a roasted pig from the orcs was a good idea?”

“It was Momo who suggested it, of course Mina would say yes.” Jeongyeon snickered, only to be hit by a pillow square in the face by Mina, who was now sporting blush.

Momo appeared unfazed by Jeongyeon’s comment and oblivious to Mina’s blush. There were more important things at hand (her dignity).

“Hey, we didn’t know that stealing pigs from orcs would trigger them, okay? I mean, orcs aren’t very intelligent anyway.”

“Yeah but the pigs are kinda like their religious sacrifice. That’s the _only_ way to trigger orcs. Didn’t they teach that in the academy?” Dahyun was still stressed about the whole thing.

“We didn’t go to the academy, remember?” Sana reminded them, sitting up on her bed with her arms crossed.

Jihyo eyed the three members on their beds. Mina seemed alright, with her arms wrapped in clean bandages. No blood, that was good. Momo only had a bandage on her ankle– the one Dahyun was finishing up. Sana seemed to be the only one with no bandage on, her visible bruises now sporting a light shade of brown. The healers must have seen them already.

“Yes, you three just went directly to apply as warriors. Astounding battle examination. Wowed the royal guard. Still, you got ambushed by orcs. Orcs, of all monsters out there. Not so astounding anymore.” Jihyo remarked, announcing her presence in the guild’s infirmary. This resulted to having the remaining five members laugh at the expense of the trio (again).

“The guild master wanted you to have this, by the way.” She tossed the bag of zeny to Mina’s bed, which was in the middle. “Maybe we can buy a roast pig with it and eat it without getting ambushed, eh?”

Another round of laughter (and a collective groan from Sana, Momo, and Mina, in order of decreasing loudness).

“On a more serious note, let’s train after lunch. We may have a new mission soon.” Jihyo said, smiling at her team.

They were the newest addition to JYPE, and despite them being the lowest ranked team in the guild, they _were_ part of a guild (and a top guild at that) so Jihyo was proud of her team. They were a questionable bunch, sure, but they made it work. Kinda.

Jihyo, Nayeon, and Jeongyeon collectively met at the academy at the age of twelve– the minimum age requirement to enter, and have stuck together ever since. Nayeon and Jeongyeon were more aggressive fighters, with Nayeon dancing around wielding a two-handed sword and Jeongyeon defending the three of them with her shield. They became swordsmen, under official oath, as soon as they graduated. Jihyo was a little different, having a knack both for spiritual things and fighting. She became an acolyte, but instead of holding the bible for enchantments, she focused on close-type combat with her brass knuckles doing most of the talking.

Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu, much like them, met up at the academy themselves, albeit being some batches behind Jihyo. Dahyun and Chaeyoung were inseparable from the start, with them sailing seas just for the heck of it, and eventually turned into axe-wielding battle merchants just because. It was weird to understand how the two came up with their decisions, but if anyone could, it would be Tzuyu. Sweet (debatable), silent Tzuyu, who got roped into the mess of Dahyun and Chaeyoung during the academy days only because she made a mistake of sitting next to them in the cafeteria (please, the cafeteria was full and your table had a vacant spot) (psh, nonsense, you wanted to be friends with us). They got separated after graduation, only for Tzuyu to share a table with them again in a random tavern at some desolated town a year after they graduated (it was the only vacant spot) (no, Tzuyu, it was not).

What’s more interesting was the case of Momo, Sana, and Mina. They never went to the academy– each had different trainings under different mentors. They met at a field east of Geffen, where they were collecting Fabre feathers and Poring jellies, all of which were required for their job changes. Sana was bent on becoming mage, and both Mina and Momo wanted to become thieves– specialists in daggers, close combat, and fast-paced battle. Maybe they were dancers in another life (who knows). Coincidentally, on probably their hundredth Fabre kill, Mina cursed in Payonese when she stepped on some remnants of a Pupa, and both Sana and Momo excitedly shifted from speaking the common tongue to Payonese as well. They promised to meet up in Payon, their home region, after they had their job changed.

To have a job track was one thing, to have a _job_ was another. The stability of jobs were ensured by two choices: joining the military or joining a guild. The military had benefits, but they didn’t allow that much growth. Guilds did, but it was a cut-throat world. To be accepted in a guild was hard work. They all went through it, and at the end of the application process, they were the nine new additions to _the_ JYPE. Nine, a perfect number for a team. Maybe guild master Jinyoung had too much faith in them, or maybe he had too little and couldn’t be bothered to rearrange his current teams, but that’s how their team was made. Nine new additions to the guild, under the leadership of a new addition herself! Questionable, sure. Whatever. It makes Jihyo want to prove themselves harder.

“– hit her with your sword, she’d come back.” It was Sana’s instruction directed at either Nayeon or Jeongyeon (who knows, both were reckless enough to actually follow Sana’s suggestion), that disturbed Jihyo’s musings. “Oh, nevermind, she just needed to hear my voice.”

_Cheeky little shit._

The _thing_ with Sana started early. Really early. Like, first night of their application process early. In retrospect, Jihyo wasn’t sure how it happened (honestly, she wasn’t). It was well into the night, and she was huddling at the corner of some balcony their accommodations offered. Worries about the whole application process plaguing her mind and then Sana appeared. They didn’t even talk that night; Jihyo just knew of Sana, Sana the 3rd class mage from Payon who applied together with two 3rd class thieves. Weird combination, but who was Jihyo to judge when she applied with two swordsmen when she was a battle acolyte too. Logically, it wasn’t sound. It wasn’t sound either to be making out with somebody who she just met hours prior, somebody who she had to compete for a slot in the guild, but Sana’s tongue was already sliding in her mouth, and Jihyo liked that it made her thoughts shut up.

“Ow, what the fuck?!” In the end, it was Jeongyeon who stabbed Jihyo in the stomach to bring her back to the present time.

“Welcome back? Stop spacing out, will you?” Jeongyeon said, waving her scabbard in front of Jihyo.

_Well, at least it wasn’t her sword._

“You didn’t sleep much last night, did you?” Nayeon asked, studying Jihyo’s face. “I told you to use the sleeping mask I bought! If this continues I might add poppy drops to your flask.”

Jihyo rolled her eyes at Nayeon’s empty threat. Everyone in the team knew Jihyo had sleep troubles, but there were two people who knew more than others. Jihyo ignored the knowing looks Mina and Momo shot one another, she didn’t even spare Sana a glance. She would bet her latest knuckles that Sana had some sort of shit-eating grin on her face and if Jihyo couldn’t kiss it off her, she didn’t want to see it.

“Nayeon stop being dramatic. Anyway yeah, let’s go have lunch then we’ll hit the training grounds after.”

“We’ll join in after the last healing session.” Mina said, giving Jihyo a smile.

“No, you won’t! Look at your arms! It’s injured!” Nayeon whined, gesturing to Mina’s bandaged arms.

“That’s why I said we’ll join _after_ the last healing session. The doctor said we should good as new once we finish it. Could’ve been healed after one session but the healer that stopped by earlier wasn’t good.” It never failed to amaze Jihyo how Mina could continuously insult people and get away with it– it didn’t even seem like Nayeon registered Mina’s diss at her. Not that Nayeon would ever register something bad about Mina; okay, Nayeon wasn’t a good example. Nevermind.

—

“I thought you said _training grounds_?” Sana’s question greeted Jihyo as soon as she entered their barracks.

Jihyo gave off a casual shrug, because the training grounds _was_ the original plan. Then she realized an hour in to training that Chaeyoung and Dahyun were getting restless from smashing dummies and Tzuyu still needed to practice her aim at moving targets. That, and Nayeon and Jeongyeon couldn’t concentrate on their stance training because other guild members kept picking fights with them. And Jihyo too. _God_.

“Stuff happened, we ended up training in the nearby forest. Tzuyu’s aim improved.”

“Yeah and I’m down a hundred arrows.” Tzuyu grumbled, setting down her equipment by the door.

“Don’t worry Chewy, I’ll make you two hundred more.” Chaeyoung said, earning a smile from their resident archer.

“You guys could’ve given a heads up. I got stuck watching those two train for hours.” Sana whined, and Jihyo felt a little bit sorry.

_A little bit._

It was understandable that Sana would be left out if she trained with Momo and Mina. Sana was a mage: good for mid-long ranged attacks while staying back, taking ample time with her spells. Momo and Mina were dagger-wielding maniacs, who were too fast for their own good (Momo unable to stop herself at times resulting to her colliding with the enemy, and Mina tumbled over random rocks while running around).

“You _do_ need to work on your hand-to-hand combat. You know, just in case.” Jihyo said, raising an eyebrow at Sana’s distressed face.

“I never said I didn’t. But you can’t expect me to keep up with those two.” Sana sent a glare (an attempt, she couldn’t send threatening looks to the Payonese warriors, Sana was too soft for them to do that) to Momo and Mina’s direction, both of which didn’t even notice since they were too engrossed in their game of checkers.

“Train with me.” Sana pouted.

“No. I’m tired.” Jihyo said, propping herself on the couch, opposite end of where Sana sat. She easily blocked Sana’s kick with one hand– Sana was moves were predictable. Sometimes.

“I’ll train with you. Hands only, no spells.” Nayeon said, dumping her sword at the entrance as well, nearly hitting Tzuyu’s bow, which gave both Nayeon and Tzuyu a heart attack. Tzuyu, because her bow was new, and Nayeon because… well, it was Tzuyu’s bow.

“Yay! Let’s do it now. Training grounds.” Sana gave Jihyo another kick for good measure (it was expected; Jihyo blocked it again). What Jihyo didn’t expect was Sana throwing a wink at her before she pushed Nayeon outside their door.

Jihyo could faintly hear Nayeon protest, saying that she needed to eat dinner first but what Sana wants, Sana gets.

—

What Sana wants, Sana gets. That includes Jihyo on nights they weren’t out on a mission. It was always Jihyo’s room as well– that was probably the only perk in being the team leader. The rest of the members roomed by pairs, and Nayeon slept through anything, including Sana going in and out at night.

“Faster.”

Jihyo grunted in response, picking up the pace to match Sana’s thrusts. Her wrist was starting to hurt, and she could feel her knees digging deeper into the wooden flooring.

Okay, sex on the floor was Jihyo’s fault but she didn’t want her bed to be dirtied by Sana’s mudded body. So really, this was Sana’s fault. Not that it mattered, Sana was far too busy enjoying Jihyo’s ministrations.

There wasn’t any rhythm anymore, Jihyo fingers were curled inside Sana, with her concentration on flicking Sana’s clit with her thumb. Jihyo silenced an incoming moan, biting Sana’s lower lip in the process. A whimper was given in reply, and Jihyo couldn’t help but grin against Sana’s open mouth. Seeing the usually cheeky Sana whimper under her touch was one of Jihyo’s guilty pleasures in life. (Sana was the entirety of Jihyo’s guilty pleasure, to be honest.)

“You need a bath.” Jihyo said, after she finished Sana.

They were both lying on the floor, Sana because she was exhausted by the two hour-long sparring session with Nayeon immediately followed by her sin with Jihyo; and Jihyo because pleasing Sana wasn’t as easy as it sounded. Jihyo could feel her knees crying in relief after kneeling down for the whole Sana-worship session, and she could feel her right wrist starting to ache. Maybe she injured a nerve. She made a mental note to heal it before she slept.

“Wanna go to the bathhouse?” Sana asked, with an eyebrow raised and half of her lips upturned into a smirk.

“No.” Jihyo said, but found herself getting up within the next minute.

—

“Your performance from the past year has been satisfactory.” Jinyoung started.

“No shit fucker.” Jihyo could feel a small vessel burst in her head as she hear Nayeon’s remark, but before she could do anything, she saw Mina elbow Nayeon in the ribs. If Nayeon’s watering eyes were any indication, it was safe to assume Mina did sufficient damage. Jihyo sent a small smile to Mina’s direction.

“Your team has managed to clear two D-level missions and four E-level missions in the span of eleven months. Good, good.”

The D-level missions were carried out as a team– both cleared by the clients on paper, but in reality their first mission a total disaster (hey, it was our bonding time!) (of course you would consider killing skeletons under an abandoned church as bonding time; Dubu, we are not the same) and their second one was slightly better (no, Jihyo, we totally wrecked the town entrance that we were supposed to be guarding) (Jeongyeon stop being pessimistic, at least no townspeople got hurt!).

E-level missions were cleared by unit, and currently their units were divided into strength (Nayeon, Jeongyeon, and Jihyo), stealth (Momo, Mina, and Sana), and recon (Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu). 

The strength unit was the first to go on their own mission, escorting some low-level ex-treasure hunter that really didn’t have anybody looking for him, he just had zeny to spare for an entourage. It was uneventful, and the three were too nervous on their unit first mission to complain about it.

The next was the recon mission, the neighboring town of Izlude needed extra forces to help with reclaiming some land that got invaded by Willows– some tree spirits that were generally friendly. Generally. Only Tzuyu came back uninjured, but that was because she didn’t engage in the fist fight that broke out in the recon camp. The supervising sergeant didn’t include Dahyun and Chaeyoung’s misconduct in the report, thankfully (no, it’s because _he_ started the fight!) (irrelevant, just be thankful).

The stealth unit was the only unit to do two missions by themselves, and that was because they did exceedingly well during the first mission. They retrieved a treasure box left behind in a cave swamped with mutated bugs (it was gross, Jihyo; I don’t want to do that again). Cleared it in one night too. Left on a Monday noon, returned by Tuesday morning. Box was unopened as well, probably because they were traumatized by the bugs they had to sneak past by (yes, exactly because of the bugs). The second mission… well, the orcs fiasco.

“The Eden Monitoring Board has officially declared this as a D-level mission, but they inserted a fine print that it may escalate into a C-level mission if circumstances turn for the worse.” Their guild master paused, eyeing the members individually. “You nine will be deployed to an abandoned ship docked at a sandbar northwest of Izlude. Their mayor wants to make the ship into some kind of museum but before that, the monsters need to be eradicated.”

“What kind of monsters are there, guild master, sir?” Momo asked, probably to study the type of monsters beforehand.

“Nothing you lot cannot handle, that’s for sure. The Mayor declared that Hydras, Poison Spores, and Skeletons roamed around. Izlude’s military forces are still concentrated on the lot retrieval from the Willows, that’s why they posted the job.”

“The disclaimer for an emergency C-level escalation, Sir?” Jeongyeon asked, and as the tank of the group, it was a warranted question.

“The recon team only assessed the top and lower deck of the ship. They believe that there may be a third deck below.” Jinyoung smiled at them, his small eyes growing impossible smaller. _Creepy._

“How are your injuries?”

“The infirmary did two rounds of healing and then we were discharged with a clean bill of health yesterday afternoon, Sir.” Sana said, ending it with a smile.

“Okay. The reward for this mission is at one hundred thousand zeny. The guild will take fifty thousand, and it will be accounted into your individual tabs. Your team will get the other half, and you can split it as you please.”

_Nice, maybe I can buy a new pair of casual shoes after this mission._

“I’ll coordinate with some Kafra personnel to oversee your travel to Izlude, so that should leave your team with a free day. Take tomorrow to prepare. This mission has no time limit. Report first to the Mayor of Izlude before you enter the ship and right after you clear it. Any more questions?”

Jihyo looked at her members, and seeing them restless was enough to answer “No, Sir. Thank you.”

—

_Of course, Momo would end up buying a roasted pig with their bonus zeny. Of course._

It was a night before they were scheduled to depart to Izlude, and they were currently at Division 3’s mess hall enjoying the pig that Momo bought.

(You guys go ahead back to the barracks, I need to meet with someone at the market! Minari, Satang, you two come with me.)

JYPE was a compound of sorts with three divisions and four buildings. Division 1’s barracks doubled as their headquarters. It was also the nicest building they had (Guild Master Jinyoung truly loved himself the most). Flanking the headquarters were the barracks of Division 2 and 3, which were identical in size. Opposite of Division 1 was a warehouse, where JYPE stored its stock potions and materials, almost everything you needed was there– it was even open to non-guild members (everything could be bought at the right price). At the middle of the buildings were their training grounds. Eleven months in the guild, and Jihyo was still impressed by it all– even to the individual mess halls their barracks all had at the ground floors.

“Are you gonna eat that?” Jeongyeon asked, eyeing the crispy pig skin on Jihyo’s plate.

“This?” Jihyo picked up the piece of skin, and made a motion to put it on Jeongyeon’s plate before rushing to eat it in one go.

“Bitch.”

Jihyo chewed loudly, the crispy skin breaking sharply as her teeth mashed it up. Jeongyeon could not have been more irritated. Ah, Jihyo loved being petty.

“How many blue potions did you get?” Mina asked Sana, while simultaneously separating ribs for both Chaeyoung and Momo.

“Twenty. Dubu grabbed another fifty for me as well, but we’ll store it in her cart. I can’t be carrying that much. You know, mage things.” Sana said, sending finger hearts to Dahyun who was too busy stealing chocolates from Nayeon’s plate (the chocolates, much to the members’ amusement and Nayeon’s embarrassment, was from a random guy at the warehouse– well, the guy knew Nayeon but Nayeon and the rest didn’t know him) to notice.

“That’s nice. I think we have six liters of concentration potions stashed in Chaeyoung’s cart as well.” Mina said, now preparing buttered bread for Tzuyu.

“Six liters? Do you guys plan on dying by overdose?” Sana asked, shocked by the sheer volume. “Don’t you like, need only five gulps for it to work?”

“It depends, actually. Me and Mina need around ten gulps. Tzuyu needs three. Swordies and axies here need five. Jihyo, strangely, is immune.” Momo said, silently sneaking a drink from Jeongyeon’s cup.

Mina nodded in agreement, still focused on spreading the butter for Tzuyu’s dinner. “Mm, plus the duration of the potion varies as well. I think six liters is a safe choice.”

“Psh, you wanted ten initially. You just agreed with six because we’d go over the mission allowance if we went with six.” Dahyun remarked, now joining in the conversation after finishing Nayeon’s chocolates.

“Like I said, six liters is a safe choice.” Mina reiterated, grinning at Dahyun.

Jihyo liked the nights pre-mission, although this would be still their third one as a team. She liked seeing her members eat happily while discussing logistics and strategy. It didn’t feel like she was the leader during these times, no, not when each member gave inputs and aired out possible strategies. They were a team.

_My team._

_—_

“Nayeon asleep?” Jihyo asked the shadow towering behind her, blocking the moonlight.

“Yeah, out like a rock.” Sana positioned herself beside Jihyo– not too close, just enough for their shoulders to touch.

“You need to sleep. We head out tomorrow, er, later. Who knows when we’ll finish clearing the ship. Who even knows how big the ship is?” Jihyo said, eyes focusing on Kookeu at the ground sleeping soundly.

“Yeah, I do. You need to sleep as well.”

“It’s hard. There’s a lot on my mind.”

“Wanna have sex?”

Jihyo let out a laugh, and when she turned to face Sana, her grin got even wider. Leave it to Sana to temporarily erase her worries.

“We have–” Sana paused, if she was in deep thought or was just being dramatic, Jihyo didn’t know. “– one night; and one more time?”

“This feels like an end of sorts.” Jihyo said, raising an eyebrow in question.

“It’s an end of an offer, is what it is.” Sana shrugged, although her attention was now at Kookeu, envious of how the dog-wolf slept without a care.

Jihyo laughed again.

“I’ll pass.” Jihyo reached out for Sana’s hand and brought it to her lips. “Thanks for the memories, even though they weren’t so great.”

Sana huffed in annoyance, pulling back her hand from Jihyo’s grasp.

“Come down. If you won’t sleep, then at least lie on your bed.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “We aren’t going to have sex.” It was strained, and it made Sana giggle. 
> 
> “I never said we were.” Another tug at Jihyo’s pants, and the knot was undone. “But you can’t really bathe fully clothed, you know?”
> 
> —
> 
> The girls arrive at the sandbar, but maybe the mayor wasn't being totally honest with the whole D-rank mission request.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, this is a Ragnarok!AU. Ragnarok as in, the game created by Gravity Interactive in the early 2000s which totally dominated the MMORPG scene up until a few years prior. God, I spent all my allowance to top-up my account to have playing hours before. Good times. Maybe. 
> 
> I hope you have fun reading it as much as I did!

“Holy fucking shit.” Chaeyoung deadpanned, taking in the ship’s massiveness.

“Language, little one!” Jeongyeon scolded, before redirecting her gaze to the ship as well. “Oh, holy fucking shit indeed.”

It took about five minutes for all nine of them to stand in front of the ship, with the trail to the shoreline’s entrance wide enough for only one person to walk in line.

“That mayor _fucking_ _knew_ this isn’t a D-rank mission. This is at least a C-rank. B-rank isn’t even a reach at this point. That shit is huge.” Nayeon was stabbing the sand with her sword. Was the sand a representation of the mayor in Nayeon’s mind? Most likely.

“Huh. No wonder he doubled our supplies. Even gave us extra jerky and bread.” Tzuyu noted, scanning the ship from bow to whatever part was visible above the water (it was the center mast; hopefully).

Jihyo took in a deep breath, and started assessing the situation. She could see the others assessing it as well, despite their complaints.

The ship was big. Big, as in: the ship was a galleon. A trading ship built to sail for months on end, with two decks of cannons lined perfectly well on both sides. The sails were ripped, a testament of the harsh trials of time. The bow of the ship faced them, and it was parked at an obtuse angle. With what Jihyo could see, there were at least three decks, maybe four if they were unlucky. The floor length couldn’t be assessed now, not with half of it submerged in water. That was another problem– the water.

“It’s high tide now. Maybe we can assess the entirety of the ship once the low tide sets in.” Dahyun remarked, eyeing the rocky formations a few yards away. Well, that was helpful. At least they didn’t need to learn how to fight underwater (does anybody know how to do that?).

“We should probably set up camp here. No way can we finish _that_ in one go.” Momo said, now squatting on the sand. “I know I’m from Payon and we have trees and forests and lakes, but _fuck_ , this isn’t a sandbar. This is an island.”

Momo wasn’t wrong. When they first reached the _sandbar_ , Jihyo found it odd to see a long shoreline with no sunken ship in sight. Then, the trees appeared. Eventually, they made it out of the patch of greenery to the other side of the island and here they were, staring at the massive chunk of wood.

“At least we don’t need to worry about bandits.” Tzuyu said, turning around in her place to get a 360-view of the area.

Her members were right. Given the shift in tides, they could start eliminating monsters twice daily. There were trees– which meant there was a source of fresh water somewhere. Fresh water and animals most likely. _And_ this island was void of humans. They could set up camp nicely, with traps in place for stray animals only. Alright, they could do this.

“Okay. First things first: who wants out of this mission?” No one moved. And then–

“I said it was huge–”

“Never said I wouldn’t do it.”

“What do you mean out?”

“Nuh-uh, we are pushing through with this.”

“Are you kidding, this shit is exciting!”

“When do we kill?”

“Can I take first round in exploring?”

Sana gave out a laugh at the simultaneous responses, making Jihyo feel silly for asking the question. “Hyo, you gotta believe in us.”

Jihyo never wanted to kiss Sana so much.

—

The tide was still high but it was lowering slowly, according to Dahyun. All of them left Dahyun to study the tides with her sundial and makeshift meter stick. If Dahyun was concentrating, it was best to leave her alone.

Nayeon, Jeongyeon, and Chaeyoung went back to get their boat from the other end. Nayeon and Jeongyeon were enough manpower to do the task, but Jihyo was wary if they’d have enough sense to do it efficiently. She threw in Chaeyoung to their team because Chaeyoung wanted to study the tides with Dahyun as well, and an impatient Chaeyoung did wonders silencing petty fights between the two swordsmen.

Tzuyu went back to the mini-forest, with the promise of mapping it out with the piece of paper and lead she had with her. Well that, and Momo challenged her to bring something for dinner as well. Momo was busy on perimeter duty, setting up traps here and there.

Huddled in a circle were Sana, Jihyo, and Mina. They promised to set-up camp as soon as Chaeyoung’s team returned so currently, they were pressed for time in brainstorming their battle strategy.

“Do we split into shifts?” Two heads shook in disagreement.

“It’s too risky. We never know when some emergency would pop up.” Mina said. “We go in together, we go out together.”

Jihyo nodded. “The tides shift four times a day. So that means we have two nadirs with regards to the sea level. We have ample rest time in between.”

“Once Dubu figures out the timing of the tides, we go in halfway when it’s between high to low, and we go out once we feel the tide is rising up again.” Two heads nod in agreement.

“If Tzuyu can find a fresh water source, I say we’re good to go. Regardless how long this will take.” Sana said, eyeing wistfully at mini forest.

“Hopefully. If she can’t, we can always get water from the tree trunks themselves. Speaking of trees, we need to make some rope.”

The rope, Mina argued, was for emergency escapes in case the tides would suddenly shift and they’d get trap inside the ship. They needed something to pull themselves up– it was good thinking, and now, Jihyo found herself beside Mina weaving twines and grass together.

“Doesn’t the ship have rope though?” Momo asked, placing her head atop Mina’s, watching the other thief skillfully weave the materials together.

“That ship has also been exposed to time and whatnot. The rope there may not be as strong.”

“But don’t you know how to swim, _Minari_?” Momo made a sound of disapproval on seeing Mina’s hands all red from making rope.

“Wrong question. Do _you_ know how to swim, Momoring?” Momo made a show of storming off, right after she dumped all the grass and twine she collected on Mina’s head.

Jihyo could see Mina’s silver tooth peeking from her wide smile as the materials slid down her head, and maybe, Mina wasn’t as slick as she seemed.

They spent their first night setting up camp and ironing their strategy. Their boat was now securely tied to a post Chaeyoung engineered within eyesight of their new camp, Tzuyu found a freshwater stream that was a twenty-minute walk away from their campsite, and Dahyun was convinced that the low tides happened during twilight– which meant on both occasions, sunlight was there.

It was beginning to look better.

—

“They’re insane.” Jihyo panted, falling back beside Sana.

Currently, they were going in for their first attack. Originally, the goal was to clear the entrance to the main deck and to buy enough time for Tzuyu to climb the crow’s nest– to assess the floor length. Baby steps, as Jihyo stressed earlier.

“Mina, behind you!” Momo shouted, and Mina did a quick turn on her toes at the nick of time– slicing the tentacles that were seconds away from strangling her.

“Momo, three ‘o’clock!” Mina shouted back, before turning her back on Momo and dealing with another gang of Hydras.

Momo swung her arms blindly to her left, while side-stepping in an attempt to evade the tentacles crawling on the floor. A good move, she managed to dispose of the Hydra to her left and avoid getting her ankle twisted.

They kept moving around in circles, dealing damage to the monsters near them. Their energy didn’t even seem to dwindle down.

“Yeah, but they aren’t the only ones.” Sana said, gesturing to the bottom of the crow’s nest where Jeongyeon stood her ground with her shield in one arm and her sword in another.

“Nayeon, you fucking piece of shit comeback here and help me with this!” Jeongyeon did a 360-turn, angling her shield perpendicular to her axis, making the monsters immediately next to her step back. Others weren’t so lucky and ended up getting pushed overboard, still others, ended up being sliced by Jeongyeon’s blade.

“Hold them off for a while! I’m going to aggro some more so we can kill them in one go!” Nayeon stabbed nearly five monsters before running off. “Come and get me you slimy pieces of shit!”

“Who are you calling shit? Im Nayeon comeback here and help me with these!”

“I wasn’t calling you shit, but if the shoe fits– oh will you wait?”

Jihyo shook her head, before casting a quick healing spell on both Jeongyeon and Nayeon. A blessing as well. God knows they need it.

“Sana! Fire, now!” Jihyo whipped her head in the direction of Chaeyoung’s voice, and saw the blonde swinging her axe on the Poison Spores jumping on her. Dahyun was a few feet beside her, but was unable to help– she was busy fending off spores of her own.

Five bolts of fire hit the spore on its head, effectively burning it to a crisp.

“I’d kiss you for good luck, but Dahyun looks like she needs back-up right now so you really need to go.” Sana said, before chanting out her next spell. Jihyo ran off without another word.

“Mina, how long is the rope?” Tzuyu’s voice could be heard from up above.

“Fifty meters!”

Tzuyu must have finished scoping the main deck– at least they achieved their primary goal for this wave. Jihyo breathed in sigh of relief as the new spore that was about to attack her fell as a two arrows found their way into its head.

“Jihyo! Floorboard is fifty meters long!”

_Okay, maybe the sigh of relief was premature._

—

Their first attack lasted four hours. It probably would have just been three hours if it weren’t for Momo and Mina’s enthusiasm (oh come on, the tide’s not even high yet) (first one to quit hunts for lunch later!).

“So you mean to say that we do this for eight hours a day– killing Hydras and Poison Spores.” Nayeon repeated, her eyes twinkling in amusement.

“That’s for the top deck. Skeletons were reported by Izludes’s recon team. Maybe there’ll be more. But yes, four hours per attack wave, two waves a day.” Jihyo said.

“Well, that’s for now. Once the moon changes phases, we’ll have a shift in the timing of the tides. We can’t do much in darkness. It’ll be too risky.” Dahyun clarified, looking at her calculations.

“If it comes to that, only me and Jihyo have illuminating skills. It won’t cover a wide area either.” Sana said, leaning against Momo. From the looks of it, Sana was approximately four strokes on the head from sleeping then and there. (Don’t ask, it’s not like Jihyo counts the strokes she does on Sana’s hair before Sana falls asleep.) (She doesn’t. Please believe her.)

“It hasn’t come to that. Not yet, anyway. Let me come up with a solution to the light problem.” Chaeyoung offered, ripping a piece of paper from Dahyun’s notebook.

“Alright. Everybody rest up. We’ll proceed with the next wave as scheduled. Jeongyeon, you’re responsible for our lunch. Wake us up when it’s ready.” Jihyo managed to say before lying down on her cot. Between having a grand total of five hours of sleep in the last two days, killing monsters earlier, and taking on the responsibility of healing all the injuries the team got after the first wave (let’s save our potions for later), Jihyo welcomed the sleep with open arms.

—

“Nayeon will lead at the helm. Jeong will follow behind, flanked by both Momo and Mina. Tzuyu will follow, then Sana. Dahyun and Chaeyoung will flank Sana. I’ll guard the tail.” Jihyo explained, while converting Mina’s checkers board into their battle map. “This will be our default position, unless we can have a better one terrain-wise.”

“I’ll follow until I can climb up the crow’s nest. The vantage point can’t be passed up.”

All agreed.

“Momo, Mina, don’t stray too far from Jeongyeon. Nayeon comes and goes as she pleases– we need you two to back up Jeongyeon with the mob Nayeon drops on her.” Jihyo pressed on, rolling her eyes at Nayeon’s annoyed face.

“It’s strategy, Jihyo!”

“Your _strategy_ is going to get me killed, you idiot!” Jeongyeon punched Nayeon in the arm. Jokingly. Nayeon retaliated with a punch of her own. Jokingly, maybe.

_Why are those two seated beside each other?_

“You _need_ to work on your aggro. And your judgment in general.” Mina commented, a look of disgust in Nayeon’s direction (more like, disgust directed at the fruit Nayeon was eating. It looked liked mashed potatoes, only green. Was that edible, even?).

“You need to work on your aggro.” Nayeon mimicked, sticking out her tongue. Mina raised an eyebrow in response, waiting for an insult (there wasn’t any, Nayeon was just petty).

“And you guys need to work with Jeongyeon. Individually, you guys may have the highest kill rates among us” The two thieves grinned at Sana’s comment, “but we’re working as a team. Take notes during this wave and we’ll sit down for improvements afterwards.”

Three nods.

“Dahyun, Chaeyoung, stick to Sana. Sana still needs time to cast her spells, so she’s vulnerable to attacks. Make sure no monster reaches her. Note rooms for improvement among yourselves as well.” Jihyo massaged her temples. Mina was joining in Nayeon and Jeongyeon’s skirmish at the side, and Momo was being roped in to it by Nayeon as well.

“Call out for a heal. I’ll try my best to cast it. Bring healing potions with you but don’t use it unless I can’t reach you in time. Are we good?”

Eight nods.

—

Following the art of battle taught at the academy, or following common sense, actually, a team should have a healer. Healing potions were expensive, and they weighed a warrior down. So why the fuck did their guild master make them a team when he knew that Jihyo wasn’t a full healer? Sure, she knew _how_ to heal, and may have studied some basic buff spells, but that was it. Jihyo was more comfortable smashing the Poison Spore’s head with her knuckles. It was brute force. Didn’t require much thinking. Jihyo liked it– not thinking.

“Heal!” Nayeon shouted, some twenty feet away. She was running back to where Jeongyeon, Momo, and Mina were, and had some ten monsters on her tail.

_Odin on a stick, Nayeon!_

Jihyo sprinted back to Dahyun’s side before focusing her mind on Nayeon’s location. Jihyo brought her palms together, and offered a short prayer.

_Heal!_

Jihyo could feel her a portion of her spiritual energy leave her, and if she focused hard enough, she would have been able to see a green fuzz surrounding Nayeon for a second.

“Thanks, Jihyo!” Nayeon shouted, not bothering looking at her healer– she couldn’t, not with the monsters at her feet, all pissed.

“Nayeon what the fuck, tone it down with the aggro!” Jeongyeon panted, shielding Mina and Momo.

The thieves appeared unfazed. They were… _grinning_?

“First one to kill a dozen more wins!”

“If you’d stop talking” a stab at the nearest monster, “then you’d actually win against me.” Mina turned her attention to Momo, and lunged at her, only to kill the monster creeping up Momo’s back.

Momo beamed, “You brag too much, Minari.” Momo reached for the bag she had tied to her belt and threw sand around the nearby Spores’ eyes, effectively blinding them. She dashed in a straight line, her dagger slicing everything in its’ path.

“Jihyo I’m surrounded by freaks!” Jeongyeon shouted in disbelief.

_Of course, Momo and Mina would make a game out of this whole thing._

“Tzuyu!” It was Chaeyoung’s scream. “I’m not the enemy!”

“Sorry!” _Ah, Tzuyu’s aim still needs to improve._

“Dubu, Hyo! Hydra! Hydra!” Sana was running away from the tentacles creeping up on her. Jihyo looked for the source and rushed to destroy it. Sana dealt great damage, sure. But she needed time to cast her spells.

_We have a long way to go._

—

It didn’t even make sense to have two geniuses who’d rather experiment than fight on their team. Dahyun and Chaeyoung were too restless for their own good.

One genius was enough to throw a team’s attack-defense balance off, and two geniuses meant two wild cards.

Dahyun was swimming in the ocean, excusing herself after dinner saying something along the lines of wanting to see water marks at the corals on the sea bed (Jihyo understood nothing, and the fact that it was nighttime puzzled her more). Dahyun even managed to drag Mina along for her swim, although Mina went along just to swim around rather than to actually help Dahyun with her research.

Chaeyoung was by the fire, busy scribbling notes on the notebook she stole from Dahyun. Beside her was Sana, patiently waiting for Chaeyoung’s orders. “Two fire bolts.” “Can you do a lightning bolt?” “Ten cold bolts please.” (Chaeng I can’t do _ten_ cold bolts in one go.) (How many can you do?) (Four.) (Ugh. Fine, four cold bolts please.)

Whereas the rest of her team was already lying down and resting up, these two always, _always_ had something up their sleeves and more often than not, they managed to involve other members as well.

Jihyo’s eyes shifted to Tzuyu, their baby archer. An exaggeration– there was perhaps a grand total of two years between them but that was enough for the whole group to collectively agree that Tzuyu _was_ their baby. (Chaeng, you do know that we’re the same age, right?) (Irrelevant, your are our baby!)

_Well at least Tzuyu got a break from them tonight._

—

“You up?” A whisper, but it was enough to tickle Jihyo’s lulled senses.

“I wasn’t. Then I was.” She grumbled, earning a laugh from the source of her disturbance.

“Wanna check out the stream Tzuyu mapped out? My bet is that there’d be a small pool along it’s course.”

“Sana, don’t you want to sleep?”

“I do, but I want to take a freshwater bath more.”

_Fair point._

—

Unsurprisingly, Sana was right. The stream widened to form a small pool some hundred meters from where Tzuyu marked the stream on the map she made. It was well into the night, and the moon was in a waxing crescent, which translated into a near pitch-black environment. Jihyo’s _ruwach_ , an illuminating spell that shone with a bluish hue, imbued with holy properties, was the only source of light supplementing the moon’s shine. (Sana, we could’ve walked faster if you’d cast your lighting spell as well.) (And miss the opportunity to walk closer to you? Why would I do that?)

“Spread the light a little wider, Hyo.” Sana said as she eyed the pool before them.

Jihyo rolled her eyes in annoyance, but complied nonetheless. She was curious to see the pool better too. It appeared to be small, roughly spanning twenty feet in its greatest diameter. But it looked deep– although Jihyo wasn’t sure if the aquamarine color was reflective of the pools depth or of her ruwach.

Sana was already stripped down to… well, nothing. She walked around naked, finding a safe spot to place her clothes on. She spared Jihyo a glance. Jihyo looked tired, with the bags under her eyes more pronounced tonight than it was earlier, her jaw clenched, and her arms crossed in front of her chest.

“Relax, will you?” Sana said, before making her way to Jihyo.

Jihyo could _not_ relax. No, not when Sana’s face was a few inches from hers; not when Sana’s fingers were undoing Jihyo’s mantle, then her belt, then the front of her top. At this point, Jihyo wasn’t even breathing, her senses totally immersed in Sana’s cold touches.

“We aren’t going to have sex.” It was strained, and it made Sana giggle.

“I never said we were.” Another tug at Jihyo’s pants, and the knot was undone. “But you can’t really bathe fully clothed, you know?”

Sana left after that, leaving Jihyo to finish undressing by herself. A loud shout, and then Jihyo could feel the sting of the icy water on her skin. Not to be out cannonball-ed, Jihyo hastily got out of her clothes and jumped into the water as well.

It wasn’t the sleep she wanted, but skinny dipping in a pool at the middle of the night was something she needed.

(Maybe playing in the water with Sana too, or hearing Sana’s laugh, or just Sana; but Jihyo had ignored that thought for the past year, she wasn’t going to entertain that now.)

“We’re doing good, you know.”

Jihyo hummed in agreement, not bothering to vocalize her thoughts. Not that she was thinking about anything in particular, she was simply busy savoring the way Sana scrubbed her back with a pebble they found together with the bar of soap Chaeyoung brought for them. The scrubbing made its way to Jihyo’s stomach, and Jihyo couldn’t help but lean back into Sana’s arms. (Jihyo was thankful for the water’s coldness– it cancelled out the burst of heat Jihyo felt when she her back bumped against Sana’s breasts. _God_ , the feeling of her erect nipples on Jihyo’s back sent shocks to her spine.)

“You’re doing great, Hyo.” Sana stopped scrubbing at this point at was simply back hugging the tired acolyte, perching her chin on top of Jihyo’s shoulder.

“We’re all trying our best. The main deck should be cleared out in the next wave. I’m starting to have a headache thinking about the lower decks.”

“We’ll have a sit-down meeting on it once we clear the main deck.” Sana assured her, before holding Jihyo by the shoulders and spinning the leader around. “My turn. Scrub my back.”

—

“All clear?” Jihyo asked, looking at Dahyun and Chaeyoung’s smiling faces.

Chaeyoung parked the cart she was bringing with her in front of their leader. “Yeah, we picked up some materials we thought could be useful. Surprisingly, there were some weapons stowed away in the navigation box. They’re in Dubu’s cart.”

“What about scrolls and records? The mayor _did_ want to convert this into a museum.”

“Stealth unit’s going over them now.” Dahyun gestured to where Sana was, currently seated in between Momo and Mina, all of whom were busy skimming the texts.

They just finished their attack, and Jihyo was right. They managed to eradicate all monsters in under two hours. That left them with enough time (and more importantly, sunlight) to look around the cleared deck. The team was split into loot and boot. The loot team was basically the stealth unit, Chaeyoung, and Dahyun. It seemed like they were finishing up, with the carts full and only a few more scrolls to peek at. The boot team was in charge of preparing for the next attack. Sana pointed out that there were numerous trapdoors that led to the lower level that could be opened from the main deck. Currently, the boot team were securing the trap doors for their inevitable opening.

“Sana, when you guys finish up, stow the scrolls away back at camp. Bring a refill of potions when you come back here.” Sana nodded. “You two, return the carts to the camp, then come back here immediately. Nayeon and her team should be done shortly.”

_Well, let’s get this over with._

Jihyo knelt, facing the stern of the ship where a wooden statue of a Valkyrie was carved. It wasn’t Odin, but it should do. She brought her palms together, and started her prayer.

The ship, after all, _was_ a haunted ship. Skeletons were already expected at the lower level, and a round of prayer should amp up their attack. Or lower the undead’s defenses. Both would be nice.

Chaeyoung managed to pull through with her promise, bringing some sort of torch with her when they came back. (It bounces off a ruwach’s light. I’m not sure if it can absorb the light’s holy properties, but it will drain some of your mana. That alright, Ji?) (Yes, Chaeyoung, you mad genius you, it’s more than alright.)

—

And so it goes. They kept up with their attacks, slowly emptying the ship of monsters day by day. It didn’t mean it became easier; on the contrary, it became harder and harder.

—

“Fuck!” Mina hissed, as Nayeon poured a generous amount of alcohol on her leg. The leg in question had an open wound spanning Mina’s entire shin.

“Holy shit Mina, I can see your bone!” Nayeon shouted, wiping away the blood with a clean gauze. “You fucking idiot. Do you think you’re a tank, huh?” Nayeon punched Mina’s uninjured shoulder. (The left one; the right shoulder had on open wound as well, although not as bad as the one on Mina’s leg.)

“Nayeon shut up and just clean it, okay?” Mina wanted to punch Nayeon back, but she was already doing everything in her power not to pass out from the pain.

They were finishing the third deck, when Nayeon opened a room that was just _filled_ with skeletons. Armed skeletons at that. Jeongyeon rushed to switch places with Nayeon, but the sheer amount of skeletons outpouring from the room was enough to overwhelm their tank. With her mind focused on driving away the skeletons from Jeongyeon, Mina momentarily forgot to keep her own guard up, resulting to a deep injury to her leg. Needless to say, the crazed skeleton who injured Mina was struck by multiple bolts of fire, slashed repeatedly by daggers, and finally, got the eternal rest at the tip of Nayeon’s blade. An overkill, sure.

Jeongyeon fared slightly better. Multiple injuries to the chest and abdomen, but there weren’t any bones popping out _and_ it didn’t hurt to breathe.

“Jeongyeon’s coughing up blood.” It was Momo, who was busy with a cold towel by Jeongyeon’s side; “and her fever is spiking. Jeongie, stay with us.”

Okay, maybe Jeongyeon lied.

Sana handed Jihyo another blue potion, a quick pick-me-upper for mana. “This is the tenth potion you’ve drank since the attack.”

Jihyo didn’t reply. There was nothing appropriate to reply to the statement anyway, not if she wanted to keep up the team’s morale. She drank it in one go and knelt beside Jeongyeon.

“Jeong, you have to take it easy tomorrow, okay? I’ll heal you just enough to get rid of the fever and hopefully stop whatever is bleeding inside but you need to help me out, bud.” Jeongyeon was about to protest (at this point in their conquest, if Jeongyeon didn’t go with them, they were better off staying at camp– the monsters were too much) but the looks Momo and Jihyo gave were nothing short of threatening.

“You suck at first aid. Will you stop punching me?”

Nayeon and Mina weren’t done arguing. Tzuyu, probably tired from hearing the two, shoved Nayeon away from Mina’s side and started the splint that Nayeon was supposed to apply some dozen arguments ago.

Standing up from falling face-first, Nayeon brushed off the sand and positioned herself sitting next to Mina. “Can you _please_ be more careful next time?”

“Yah, yah, don’t cry.” Whatever annoyance Mina had in her arguments earlier was gone. “I’m alive. Some bone is peeking out, so what. Stop being a cry baby.”

“Make it three potions.” Jihyo ordered, figuring that the extent of Mina’s injuries needed a more powerful immediate heal. Gross injuries took a toll to heal, but infections were worse– and Jihyo wasn’t about to let Mina go through days of fever and vomit just because she was exhausted to pull-off healing the open fracture.

—

“We’ll have a full moon starting tomorrow. It’ll probably last four days. Three, if we’re lucky.” Dahyun said, gazing at the sky.

“Remind me again why a full moon is a bad thing?” Momo asked.

“The tides go on extremes during a full moon. That, and I think we’ll only have two shifts in the tides in the coming days.” Dahyun checked her notes. “Following the pattern, the low tide will be during the night.” A headache was starting to form at Dahyun’s temples. “Bro, any update on the torches?”

“I ditched the sight-absorbing torches. I have good reason to believe that the ruwach-absorbing ones get the holy property as well. It’s a nice bonus when fighting the undead. If we place four torches in key locations, it should be enough to illuminate the entire fourth deck.” Chaeyoung replied, looking forlornly at the torches on her feet. “Problem is, with the materials we have, I could only produce two. If we follow with our usual strategy, once we reach the far end of the floor we may be ambushed _again_.”

“What about regular torches?”

Chaeyoung shook her head. “The light would scatter to three-feet around at best. It’ll still give us blind spots. The torches I made echoes Jihyo’s light, that’s why it has a bigger area effect.”

“Let’s change the formation then. Dubu, Chaeng, you guys will become rear guards. I’ll be ahead of you, with my illuminating spell on full blast. Tzuyu will be ahead of me, so she can shift from attacking both forward and rear. Jihyo needs to be the center anyway, with the her heal on standby. The front will remain as is.”

A variation of agreeing statements.

“Can’t believe we’ve been here for three weeks already.” Tzuyu whispered, her eyes watching their bonfire burn.

“I can’t believe you haven’t run out of arrows yet.” Jeongyeon joked, lightening up the mood.

“I shoot it then I pick it up afterwards.” Tzuyu said, grinning. “Well the ones that can still be reused. You’d be surprised how many skeletons actually soft skulls.”

“Nayeon can’t relate.”

“Mina, I heard that!”

—

“Die, fucker!” Jeongyeon was riding off some kind of high– they all were. With the sweep of her shield flinging the undead to the wall, followed-up by the swing of her blade, Jeongyeon claimed the last kill of the fourth deck.

The last kill of the entire ship.

“Did we do it?” Dahyun asked picking up her axe from a Hydra’s body. “Is it done?”

Both Sana and Jihyo amped up their lighting spells, for a better view of the room. Bodies of the monsters lay lifeless on the floor, and Jihyo couldn’t be more happier at the sight.

“Holy shit they’re all dead.” Momo said, scanning the entire area.

“Double dead, Momoring.”

“Minari, for once in your life, can your smart mouth shut up?” Momo rolled her eyes at Mina’s statement, but her grinned betrayed the annoyed look she was trying to pull.

“Dubu, how long do we have?” Jihyo asked, eyeing the sea water that was beginning to creep up at the far end of the stern.

“Forty minutes. An hour at most. We still need to go up three decks.”

“Momo, Mina, go double check the bodies. Sana, burn the bodies after they get checked. Dubu, Chaeng, join up with Nayeon and Tzuyu. Start collecting the loot. Jeongyeon, help me assess the total damage we did to the ship. You guys heard Dubu, we have forty minutes!”

—

The mission took a month. Clearing the entire ship of monsters and double checking for loot took twenty-five days to be exact. Two days spent on sea travelling to- and fro- the mainland of Izlude. One day spent in the city hall chambers, reporting their conquest and turning over the (filtered) goods. Another two days staying at an inn and resting, courtesy of Izlude’s mayor. The last day was spent with the Kafra services, overseeing their travel and possessions.

“The Eden Monitoring Board has officially changed the mission grade into a C-rank. The reward has been changed as well, and because the mayor wasn’t transparent in his mission request, a penalty was placed and an additional payment will be made.” Jinyoung said, reviewing the sealed papers Jihyo brought with them. He eyed the team, from Nayeon down to Tzuyu. “This team is the first to clear a C-rank mission unsupervised by any 2nd class senior. And you managed to do it within your first year in the guild as well. Excellent work. I’m very proud.”

“You’re very crazy, is what you are.” Jeongyeon muttered under her breath and Jihyo was quick to step on Jeongyeon’s foot.

(Well, their guild master _was_ crazy, but that was beside the point.)

“Moving on, the reward has been upped to two hundred thousand zeny, fitting for a C-rank mission. The penalty imposed is at one hundred thousand. The guild will collect fifty percent of the original mission reward, the penalty will be all yours to split. I’ll talk to the financing department later, so you guys should be able to claim it by tomorrow. I’ll tell the mess hall to make you guys a cake for your anniversary.”

Jihyo could _definitely_ buy a new pair of shoes with the prize money. Sweet.

—

“You taste sweet.” Sana said, talking against Jihyo’s lips.

“We were having dessert when you dragged me in here, what do you expect?” Jihyo pushed Sana against the door. She fisted the ends of Sana’s dress shirt before tugging them up. Jihyo went on to pepper Sana’s jaw with kisses before sliding down to her neck, sucking on a sweet spot that she knew would make Sana whimper.

Sana managed to slap Jihyo’s shoulders. “Don’t do that. I don’t want to be loud. They aren’t drunk enough to be deaf.” She was referring to their members, all of which were still in their shared living space, drinking the wine Nayeon and Momo bought. _Wines?_ (They bought nine bottles.)

“You’re annoying.” Jihyo said, now busy tugging the strings of Sana’s pants. Her mouth was now sucking on Sana’s nipple, and by the hold Sana had on Jihyo’s head, it seemed like the mage was enjoying it. Feeling for Sana’s core, Jihyo momentarily stopped sucking to comment cheekily, “God, Minatozaki, this wet already?”

“Will you shut up.” Sana tried hard to suppress a moan as Jihyo’s hand pressed against her drenched underwear.

“ _God_ , Sana.” Jihyo wasn’t sure what she was referring to, if it was the way Sana whispered her moans or the way Sana was ready for her.

“Haven’t you prayed enough to last a lifetime in the past month?” Sana gritted through her teeth before bringing back Jihyo’s lips to her own.

Sana, wet, whimpering, impatient Sana, forgoed Jihyo’s top and fumbled to untie Jihyo’s pants. It wasn’t like Jihyo was any better– her body was ready for Sana’s fingers the moment Sana wrapped her cold hand around Jihyo’s wrist and dragged her from her seat on the couch.

With Jihyo’s pants loose enough, Sana slipped a finger in between her folds, pooling the wetness on the tip of her index before sliding up to lubricate Jihyo’s clit.

Every stroke against her clit felt like lightning, and Jihyo was having a hard time to simultaneously please Sana. Accepting defeat, Jihyo planted her arms at Sana’s side, hands gripping against the door frame as her knees buckled and legs grew weaker with every movement of Sana’s index finger. With eyes closed, Jihyo could feel Sana’s free hand making an effort to pull down Jihyo’s pants. Before she could help out, her pants were already pooled at her ankles and Sana was already kneeling down.

“Sana what the fu–” Jihyo pressed her forehead against the door, trying her best not to scream. Sana’s tongue was darting in and out and after a few licks traveled up to her clit, with her fingers now pumping Jihyo’s core.

“God, god, _god_ ”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Momo has a date?”  
> “The Minatozakis are here?” 
> 
> —
> 
> JYPE's yearly evaluation is coming up, Sana becomes a blind item in the local newspaper gossip, and Jihyo may have accidentally brought half of the team to go with her on a gift hunting trip.

“Your spiritual energy grew.” Hansuk noted, giving Jihyo a once-over as soon as he finished his morning prayer.

Hansuk was a 2nd class high acolyte– a top battle priest a decade ago who went on to be rebirthed (well, it’s not in the literal sense, but more on that later) to become the high acolyte he was now. More importantly, he was Jihyo’s mentor. Jihyo assumed that the Church– who, aside from overseeing religious activities, doubled as the job guild for acolytes, priests, and monks; didn’t put too much thinking in the mentor-mentee pairing.

“By the scars on your hands, it seems that you still have a liking to those knuckle contraptions. A bible should be your weapon of choice, young lady. Look at your hands, they don’t appear very ladylike anymore.”

Hansuk was also a traditional guy. Jihyo never liked the way she needed to report to him regularly, but hey, rules are rules (and Jihyo was a stickler for rules). So here she was, seated at the backmost pew of the Prontera High Cathedral talking to a man who believes girls should have soft hands. (Sana’s hands were soft, but that’s irrelevant.)

Despite his questionable ideals, Hansuk _was_ a 2nd class high acolyte. He was held in high regard by the Church, and his knowledge on spells and prayers were extensive. He was also fulfilling his end of their partnership by teaching Jihyo what he deemed Jihyo could do at her level. Spiritual level.

“These are prayers that call on the blessing of Freyja– if you master them, the goddess may grant protection in battle. It translates to an increase in physical defense and increased in speed.” Jihyo was handed two scrolls. “This one invokes Skadi, and her blessing should give an increase in _attack_ speed. Increase in magical defense should be granted as well.” Another scroll was placed in Jihyo’s hand. “ _This_ is something I’ve recently written, it explains how we convert our spiritual energy to help restore one’s damaged body. Understand what I’m trying to say, and maybe your heals would be more effective.” Hansuk finally peered his eyes away from the bookshelf before them. “Has Jinyoung changed your team set-up yet?”

Despite having endless doubts on their team composition, Jihyo felt a phantom pain in her chest at the mention of a possible change in teams. They may have only been together for a year, but Jihyo couldn’t help but feel attached to her eight members. Maybe it was a leader thing, maybe it wasn’t (it was nice to think that the other members had the same fondness Jihyo had for them).

“There was no announcement about a change in teams. But we will be having the annual evaluations in a week. Almost all of JYPE’s warriors are home, in preparation for the evals.”

The barracks were filled with warriors– Jinyoung announced the moratorium yesterday, so everybody who was off missions stayed, and those who were away were being called back. The evaluations were important– if Jinyoung and his board would deem that the overall performance of the guild was bad, then that’d mean more slots would be opened for the next batch of members. If an individual’s performance was really bad, then a kick-out would be laid upon the unfortunate soul.

“I see.” Hansuk gestured for Jihyo to sit down on the nearest living chair before sitting down on one himself. “As I have already told you in the past, acolytes of the Church perform best with a clear mind, with a clear conscience. Your visit is in good timing. Let’s start with the confession, shall we?”

Jihyo had a flash of an image of her activities the night prior– a flash of Sana kneeling in front of her. (Hyo, this is me confessing my sins, please accept them).

_God, Sana, you totally said that on purpose._

“Ah, yes.” Jihyo cleared her throat, and started talking about the things that plagued her mind. (No, no mention of Sana. It might kill her traditional-probably-bigoted mentor if he knew about Jihyo’s… engagements with another woman.) (Her mentor _did_ ask if Jihyo had any boy troubles, to which Jihyo gave a resounding “no”. _Ha_! It was the wrong question.)

—

“Was the visit to your Daddy Hansuk _that_ bad?” Nayeon asked as soon as Jihyo stepped out of the cathedral. Kookeu was already running towards Jihyo, excited that another friendly face was near. He ran around in circles and went on to dash back and forth between Jihyo’s legs (well, he tried but he was too big to do so). It seemed that their month-long absence made the dog-wolf more playful than usual.

Nayeon and Jeongyeon visited their own mentors as well. Both finished earlier than Jihyo and were lazing around on a public bench while waiting for Jihyo. The swordsmen’s guild was conveniently next to the cathedral and Jihyo mused that maybe they’d always be like that– the three of them always conveniently next to each other.

_That’d be nice, really nice._

“Your daddy kink is showing and it’s disgusting.” Jihyo tapped on Nayeon’s head, which was currently using Jeongyeon’s lap as a pillow. “Move your big head away, and let me sit down. I think the confession drained me rather than uplift my soul or whatever.”

Once she was seated in between the two swordsmen, Nayeon placed her head on Jihyo’s lap immediately, much to Jihyo’s (fake) dismay.

“So, was it really that bad, bud?” Jeongyeon asked, making a show of moving her thigh around. “Nice timing by the way, the idiot’s head was cutting off the circulation to my leg.”

“You weren’t complaining earlier, Yoo so shut mmmmfff–” Nayeon was cut off by Jihyo’s hand on her mouth which made Jeongyeon laugh.

“Anyway, Jeong, how did your meeting go?” Jihyo asked. “What the fuck Nayeon don’t go licking people’s palms!”

Jeongyeon’s laugh probably disturbed the ongoing mass next door but whatever, Hansuk’s mighty-and-holier-than-thou speech post-confession rattled Jihyo’s inner peace too.

—

“You’re here!” Mina exclaimed when the three of them entered their shared quarters.

Totally ignoring Nayeon’s outstretched arms (Yah, Mina, you disrespectful little shit!), Mina made a beeline for the bag Jihyo was holding.

“You guys brought food? I’m hungry.” Mina pried the bag from Jihyo’s grip only to be disappointed at the scrolls that were inside.

“There’s a mess hall on the ground floor?”

“There are _people_ there.” Mina pouted. “No food?”

“You’re like a spoiled child, you know?” Jeongyeon commented before showing Mina the paper bag she was holding. “Food’s here. Where are the others?”

The pout shifted into a grin immediately.

“Ooh, is this shepherd’s pie?” Mina was already eating on the floor with the pies on the coffee table.

_When did Mina become that fast?_

“Dubu and Chaeng went to set up shop at the marketplace. They figured we could score more zeny selling our loot there than selling it to the warehouse. They dragged Tzuyu along because they needed someone “drop-dead pretty” to attract customers.”

“They should’ve asked me too!” Nayeon complained before opening her mouth, demanding to be fed by Mina.

“You’re ugly, Nayeon.” Mina said flatly, shoving a forkful of pie into Nayeon’s open mouth, effectively making Nayeon choke. “Momo’s on a date with some creeper and Sana’s out with her parents.”

“Momo has a date?”

“The Minatozakis are here?”

Mina shot both Jeongyeon and Jihyo an annoyed look. “The creeper promised Momo to treat her to any restaurant she’d like. He came up to us when we had breakfast earlier at the mess hall. Sana’s parents came by just an hour after you guys left. I should have more share of the pie, why are you making me talk so much?”

“You’re so grumpy.” Jeongyeon ruffled Mina’s hair, just to spite the thief. “You can have Momo’s share as well, if she’s out making some guy poor, I don’t think she’d still eat when she comes back.” Jeongyeon now sat beside Mina, gesturing Mina to feed her as well.

“Did they say when they’ll be back?” Another annoyed look from Mina. Jihyo grinned, amused at the whole pouty Mina.

“I don’t know, I’m not their keeper.” Mina slapped Nayeon’s hand that was trying to grab the fork. “Probably by midnight, at the latest. I guess they’re making most of today’s day off before we go into training for the evaluations.”

“I see. I’ll be in my room getting a head start on all these scrolls Hansuk gave me. Shout if you need anything.” She eyed her three members, who were ten seconds away from fighting (from the fallen pieces of pie in front of Nayeon, it was Jeongyeon & Mina vs Nayeon). “No, actually, don’t call me. Nayeon get away from them _now_.”

It was too late, Mina was tickling Nayeon’s sides and Jeongyeon was holding Nayeon down.

“Jihyo, bud, help me! Jihyo, Jihyo!”

—

“Spotted! Payonese royal family paying a visit to the City of Prontera. The Minatozaki’s, an exclusive interview on page six!” Dahyun read the paper out loud. “Who writes these kinds of headlines? This is trash.” Dahyun proceeded to flip the newspaper to page six. “Minatozaki’s only heir? Who is this beauty that accompanied the Payonese royalty through the streets of Prontera?”

Chaeyoung laughed at Dahyun’s over-the-top voicing. And maybe at Sana too.

“Dubu stop that. Chaengie, it’s not even that funny.” Sana whined, making Chaeyoung laugh some more. Okay, she was definitely laughing at Sana.

“What did the parents want, _princess_?” Mina asked while she was sharpening the new Damascus knives Chaeyoung got for her and Momo.

“Shut it, Myoui. If your family went here, you’d been on the news too, _princess_.” Sana stuck out her tongue, which made Mina do the same.

“ _Princesses_ , hush now. It’s breakfast time. Where are your manners! Ladies of the court are to be on their best behavior.” Nayeon chided while eating the toast Tzuyu prepared (for herself, not for Nayeon).

“I always forget that I’m surrounded by royalty. I need to up my game and look for royalty myself.” Momo joined in, earning a glare from both Sana and Mina.

The Minatozakis were an old name in Payon, and although their household wasn’t in the direct line for succession, they still made news every now and then– especially with the rumor that their only child, hidden from the public eye since she was born, was already at the age of marriage. The Myouis weren’t in the direct line of succession as well, but they were a constant presence at the royal council, giving advice to rulers throughout generations. Both Sana and Mina escaped that life. Sana, an only child who automatically had the burden to carry on her family’s name, fled from her home as soon as she was able to. Mina, being luckier, had an older brother groomed to hold the next seat at the council. The role Mina had to do was to be pretty and marry– and that was enough to make her run away as well.

They didn’t talk about it, and the others didn’t pry as much as to the whys and hows revolving their childhood, escapes, and eventually awkward reconciliation with their families– because hey, to each her own. The revelation of their teammates being royalty just naturally slipped off one night during their first D-rank mission together. Sana and Mina were pissing Momo off, and Momo retaliated, all three forgetting to speak in Payonese, making everybody else understand. Out of respect to their members, Sana and Mina told them in confidence about their heritage. It was taken well, with not a word leaked out of their team. On most days, it was a forgotten fact (because: have you seen Sana’s clothes– they don’t exactly spell rich; and Mina’s constant state of hunger would have you thinking that this girl never had a chance to be fully satiated at least once in her life).

Today, however, was not like most days. Today, Prontera’s local newspaper had a dedicated section to the elusive Minatozaki heir. Today, the _princesses_ were at the butt of the team’s jokes.

—

“You’re spacing out.” Jihyo said before sweeping her foot at Sana’s legs, disrupting Sana’s balance and effectively making Sana land on her butt.

Sana made grabby hands at Jihyo, which elicited a look of distaste on her face but she helped Sana up nonetheless.

“Sorry. Okay, let’s go at it again.” Sana readied her stance– legs parted, with one foot in front of the other, both arms raised clenched fists at the level of her eyes. Sana’s close combat fight mimicked Momo and Mina’s, and if she could get a small pinch of their melee fighting talents, it would mean a worry-free evaluation.

“Is it your parents?” Jihyo asked, taking the first forward step. She always liked being on the offensive side of battle– maybe because she knew that she could always heal herself if things would become a shitfest. An attempt to jab at Sana’s right. Sana shifted to the left. Another attempt to jab at Sana, this time at the left. Sana shifted to the right.

“Maybe it’s about you.” It was Sana’s turn to throw a punch. She aimed for Jihyo’s stomach– her fighting style definitely was from the thieves.

“ _So_ , what did your parents want?” Jihyo jumped back in time to avoid a center punch from Sana. When Sana was recoiling, she ran and lunged to hit her face. Sana blocked it with her palm, tightening her hold on Jihyo’s fist before lowering it down and twisting it, making Jihyo wince in pain.

“A child. A marriage. A lover at the very least.” Jihyo’s free hand managed to land a hit on Sana, making her lose hold on the twisted arm. Sana pushed forward, her entire body weight hitting Jihyo in one go, making the acolyte tumble down.

“So get a lover, if it bothers you so much.” It was Jihyo’s turn to hold her hand up, asking Sana help in getting up.

“I already have one– of sorts.” Sana said, smirking as she pulled Jihyo up. It was too forceful and it made Jihyo bump chest to chest against Sana.

“So why the worry then?”

“They want dick, Hyo. _You_ don’t have one.” Sana casually said, before stepping back and readying her stance again.

Jihyo did a double take at Sana’s words. They were at the training grounds in broad daylight, and it was always something unspoken between them that whatever they had was kept in the dark, away from open ears and prying eyes.

“Sana!”

Sana shrugged, not really caring about her previous statement. The day out with her parents may have affected her more than she let on. “They want me to marry by my birthday. Twenty is too old to be single, and god forbid that if by twenty-one I’m still not nursing a child, I might be cursed.”

Sana was stressed out, that was clear enough, but Jihyo couldn’t help but laugh.

“That sounds so stupid.”

“I know!” Sana whined, her eyes turning bigger, her arms now crossed in front of her chest. “It’s so stupid but they honestly believe in what they’re saying! Fuck me.”

Jihyo grinned. She looked around the training grounds, and it seemed like nobody was paying any attention to them. “Later.”

—

It was always nice tracing the outline of Sana’s jaw, of Sana’s breasts, of Sana’s inner thighs. It was also nice to hear Sana moan whenever she’d suck on the sweet spot at her neck or when her fingers hit the right angle at the right pace. Feeling her juices flow out while her walls clenched as she rode out her climax was nice as well.

_Everything_ was nice about Sana.

Sana’s cuddles, arguably, were the nicest thing. The post-sex cuddles were on a league of their own. Sana would _glow_ : her eyes would turn smaller, twinkling in satisfaction; her lips would be fuller, from all the biting; and her skin flushed. Sana would snuggle to Jihyo’s side, placing her head on top of Jihyo’s chest, one arm squished between their bodies and the other wrapping around Jihyo’s stomach, and one leg draped over Jihyo’s own. Then she’d begin talking, grabbing all of Jihyo’s attention.

“Why do they think I need a man and a child? At this point in my life, what I need is to master summoning ten bolts per spell.” Jihyo hummed, stroking Sana’s hair (one), letting her know she was listening.

“I already made it clear to them that I wouldn’t go into the whole Minatozaki thing years ago! We even had this huge crying session and they promised not to push their agenda on me ever again. Ugh!” Another stroke on Sana’s hair (two), and this time, a small forehead kiss as well.

“Stop trying to calm me down, I’m still ranting!”

“I’m not trying anything.”

“You’re doing the hair thing and you just gave me a forehead kiss.”

“Well, do you want me to stop?”

“Sana?”

“No. Please do the hair thing and forehead kisses again.”

(Three.)

—

The day of the evaluations came and the training grounds were already packed with guild members and non-guild members alike. Out of all JYPE members, their team was probably the most nervous bunch, and all with good reason: they _were_ the newest addition. It had only been over a week since they celebrated their first year anniversary.

“Alright, huddle time.” All eight members immediately walked up to Jihyo, forming a circle among themselves. “It’s just been over a year but this has been the most enjoyable time I had. We’ve improved so much.” They were holding hands now, and Jihyo could feel Nayeon and Jeongyeon squeeze her hands in support. “I know we can do this. Fighting!”

“Fighting!” Chaeyoung enthusiastically echoed, making the others echo it as well.

“You guys better not mess up and get kicked out, I don’t want to mingle with other idiots.” Mina had her special way of saying it, but the message was understood.

“Just say you’ll miss me, Mina.”

“Oh you can go, Nayeon. I don’t mind.”

_Well, at least they had a moment of seriousness._

Slowly, the members made their way to the training grounds. Jihyo was about to go as well when she felt Sana tug on her wrist.

“For good luck.” Sana gave Jihyo a kiss on the cheek, and it was probably the most innocent thing she’d done to Jihyo since they arrived from Izlude.

It was also the most mind-blowing act Sana has done since they arrived.

—

It has to be said again: Jinyoung, 1st class minstrel and guild master of JYPE, was crazy.

All parts of the evaluation were done in their preexisting team arrangement, so it meant Jihyo’s team battled it out with their seniors.

The set up was a sort of capture-the-flag tournament, with their team first on the offensive side. They followed their default battle position with Nayeon at the lead, Jeongyeon flanked by Momo and Mina behind her, Tzuyu next, backed by Sana, Dahyun, and Chaeyoung, with Jihyo at the rear. They didn’t win, but the round lasted an over an hour and, honestly, that was more than what they expected. When the switch happened, when it was their turn to be on the defensive side– well, that was when things started blowing up.

Literally.

The offensive party had a 2nd class wizard specializing in explosive spells and their own recon team didn’t stand a chance. A minute later, it their strength team that was taken out, all by some ten arrows from a 2nd class hunter. Momo, Sana, and Mina were the last ones standing defending their flag, and when a 2nd class alchemist threw bombs at them, they went out with a boom. Because really, if you pit 3rd class warriors against 2nd class warriors, it was a no brainer that they’d suffer badly. JYPE’s healing team was deployed as soon as Jinyoung declared their match over. The defensive round had the official time of ten minutes, but the actual battle time took only two minutes and nine seconds.

“At least this time, the healers were good.” Momo said, wincing at the burns she had all over her body. On a pain scale of one to ten, with one being a stubborn rock stuck in the inside of a shoe to ten being some seconds away from dying, the burns Momo had were now on a simple three. They’d probably be a whooping nine if the healers didn’t perform their rituals in time.

“That was so messed up. I at least thought we’d get shuffled, you know?” Chaeyoung was finishing applying some aloe vera salve on the remnants of Tzuyu’s burns. “Shuffling would be the best choice because the imbalance between teams were too much.” Chaeyoung’s mind was off somewhere weighing the battle stats of their guild members when she unconsciously pressed harder on Tzuyu’s burn, which made Tzuyu retract her arm in pain. “Sorry, Chewy, did I hurt you?”

“Awe come on, guys. We did well during with the offense!” Sana said, trying to lighten the mood.

“Well, at least we have that to hold on to.” Jihyo eyed the wall clock. “It’s almost ten in the evening. We better go down to Division 1’s mess hall. Don’t wanna be late for the assembly.”

—

Jinyoung and the board started off giving their evaluations from the oldest team down to the newest. It did absolutely nothing to calm down the anxiety Jihyo’s team felt bubbling in their chests.

“Lastly, Park Jihyo’s team.” All of them were lined up in front, standing on the mess hall’s platform that was supposed to be where bards would sing to entertain the crowd. “Newest addition. Nine 3rd class warriors. Lasted an hour on the offensive and lasted ten minutes on the defensive. Went against a party consisting purely of 2nd class warriors.”

“Impeccable teamwork shown during the offensive round.” Jihyo let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. “Individually, all members performed above average at the very least.” This time, she could feel Mina and Sana exhale beside her.

“Individuals who performed beyond expectations were 3rd class thieves Hirai Momo and Myoui Mina. A representative from the Theif’s Guild saw the match earlier. You two are requested to report to the headquarters in Morroc by next week.” A round of applause from the crowd. Jihyo couldn’t see it, but she was sure Sana was tearing up.

“Good, good. Your team may now take a seat.” Jinyoung said, offering them a smile. “Given the current strength of our members right now, the board has decided to put off accepting applicants for this year. We will however, hold training sessions for non-guild members for a fee. I’ll distribute the training assignments by next week. Also, we’ll have a change in teams. It should be posted by the bulletin board by tomorrow evening.”

—

It was weird.

Weird how Jihyo would wake up without the sounds of Nayeon and Momo fighting in the kitchen. How she would go outside her room to be greeted by a relatively neat living quarters, free from all unnecessary contraptions that Dahyun and Chaeyoung would be experimenting on. How, when she would open the main door, there wouldn’t be stacks of weapons by the entrance because her new team actually had the sense to stow away their arsenal in the spare room.

Weird how she didn’t have to heal her teammates during missions because they had a full-support acolyte who was more than enough to keep the entire team going without healing potions. How the team’s tank was so calm, never shouting for anything– no more Jeongyeon shouting for a heal, for the attackers to turn down the aggro, and all the unnecessary comments in between. How their archer was so conceited, never once apologizing for any mistakes he’d make and what’s even weirder was that teammates let him be. It’s like no one cared that much to put the obnoxious archer in place. If it was Tzuyu, it wouldn’t even reach that point because their baby (well, former baby) was too humble for her own good. No more incessant chatter during their downtime just because. No sarcastic jabs from Mina attacking everybody in the room. Actually, they didn’t even stay in the same room unless it was required– which was supposed to be normal.

But it wasn’t. Everything was so weird.

Three months in the new arrangement and Jihyo was getting restless.

They just arrived back from a C-rank mission which went smoothly. In her new team, a 2nd class knight was the leader, and almost all their missions went without anybody sustaining life-threatening injuries. For a moment, Jihyo let her mind wander.

_I wonder how those idiots are doing? Are they home? Or are they out on a mission now?_

Her thoughts kept getting louder as the night progressed, and Jihyo couldn’t really make sense on what exactly was going on in her mind. So she did what liked to do when it reached that point– she climbed up to her barrack’s rooftop to get some fresh air. (And to probably distance herself from her new team too.)

When she managed to climb on the roof, she wasn’t alone. Jihyo could make out a silhouette of… Jihyo smiled.

“Hi.” Jihyo said, nearing the hooded figure. She sat down beside the figure, her eyes watching the person beside her intently. It was probably a month since they saw each other– the timing of their missions were such a bitch.

Time slowed. Or maybe Jihyo was just hyper focused because it seemed like her eyes were taking in everything frame by frame. The way Sana moved her head to see her, to how her mouth formed a small “o” in surprise, to how her lips turned upward at the sides, making her cheeks bulge and her nose scrunch, to seeing Sana’s eyes crinkle at the edges, with her eyebrows slanting upward in slight disbelief at the sight of Jihyo. When the hood of Sana’s cloak fell, and her hair moved with the wind– perhaps the wind was knocked off Jihyo’s chest as well.

“Wow. You’re, uh,” _so, so, beautiful_ “blonde.”

Sana laughed, running a hand through her hair. Not a second later, she was already embracing Jihyo in a bone-crushing hug– and as much as Jihyo would like to hug her back, her hands were busy gripping the tiled roof because Sana was throwing all her body weight on her and Jihyo _really_ didn’t want to fall (from the roof).

“I missed you.” It was muffled, because Sana’s face was deep in Jihyo’s chest but Jihyo heard it regardless. And if Jihyo’s heart was beating faster because of the adrenaline of not falling from the roof or from Sana’s presence, she wasn’t sure.

Now this– having Sana entangled around her body at the middle of the night, well, this wasn’t weird at all.

—

“Myoui!” Jihyo shouted across the mess hall as soon as she spotted Mina at the farthermost corner, eating her breakfast alone.

Mina looked up, ready to sass out anyone who disrupted her breakfast, but when she saw Jihyo’s grinning face brisk-walking to her table, Mina gave a grin of her own.

“No mission today?” Jihyo asked, taking in Mina’s presence. She seemed thinner.

_Are her teammates feeding her? Don’t they know this thief needs to eat constantly to balance off everything she burns when she moves?_

Jihyo couldn’t help but frown.

“Ah, no. We just got back yesterday morning. We’ll probably take a rest until further notice.” Mina said, casually taking Jihyo’s apple from her tray. “What’s with the long face?”

Realizing that she was sulking, Jihyo looked around the mess hall, thinking of a way to shift the topic. The tacky holiday décor caught her eye. “Wanna go holiday shopping?”

Mina’s smile grew wider, her silver tooth showing. “You miss me, don’t you, Park?”

_Ah, it wouldn’t be Mina without being difficult._

—

“Mina, go with me to Popo Island.” Jihyo said as soon as she took as seat beside the thief. Jihyo placed the extra serving of soup she got in front of Mina.

“Popo Island, as in, Poring Island – the land where those jelly-filled bouncy monsters live?” It was seaweed soup, and Mina hummed in satisfaction. “Why?”

_Because Dahyun mentioned right before she left for a new mission that Sana needed a new rod and Sana’s birthday is coming up and I wanna give her the best gift that I can._

“No reason.” Jihyo shrugged.

“Jihyo, why would we go to Popo Island? Didn’t you just arrive from a mission?”

“Who is going to Popo Island and why am I not invited?” Nayeon intruded, settling nicely beside Mina as well. She placed a serving of egg rolls on Mina’s plate, earning a grin from the thief.

“Jihyo wants to go to Popo Island.” Mina must have liked the egg rolls because she forgot her customary insult to Nayeon’s presence. “Also, why are you here? You don’t belong in this division.” _Oh, there it is_.

“I heard from Jeongyeon that you guys are back so I decided to bless you with my presence.” Nayeon said. “So when are we going to Popo Island because if we’re heading out tomorrow, I’m ditching my team.”

“Nayeon! You couldn’t even wait for me.” Jeongyeon ran up to them, panting. “Swear, the moment I told her I saw you and Mina, she disappeared. She doesn’t even like running!” Jeongyeon took a seat beside Jihyo and rested her head on Jihyo’s shoulder, glaring at Nayeon. “Oh sweet, egg rolls. Nayeon gimme.”

“Take mine, Jeong. Also, why are you guys here? And more importantly, where are the others?” It was Chaeyoung this time, placing her own serving of egg rolls in front of Jeongyeon and offering her fork as well.

“Dahyun just left this morning on a new mission. Her team joined up with Sana’s so Sana’s not here as well. Momo and Tzuyu are both out, although Momo should be heading back now. I’m not sure how long Tzuyu’s mission is this time.” Mina said, munching happily on the egg rolls.

“Nice to know you keep track of our schedules.” Jihyo said, getting a casual shrug from Mina in response. (Jihyo kept track as well, as much as she could, anyway.)

“Anyway, going back to Popo Island–”

—

In the end, the ones who went on a trip to Popo Island were Jeongyeon (I _will_ go with you. I don’t care if you don’t need a tank. My schedule is free.), Momo (wait where are you guys headed– just let me leave my things back at the barracks, okay you know what, never mind let’s just go, time’s-a-wasting!), Jihyo, Mina (you guys are all losers, I was the only one invited to this trip), and Chaeyoung (of course I’ll tag along, maybe we can find some new types of jellies there)– much to Nayeon’s dismay (no, Nayeon you will _not_ ditch your mission).

They didn’t even seem to mind _why_ they were going on a trip. When they figured out Jihyo was looking for a sturdy rod that only the Drops monster— a big peach-colored blob of jelly, dropped, all of them began hunting for the rod as well.

It was so loud (Jeongyeon why are you even here you’re just aggro-ing monsters that aren’t Drops), and not as quite as organized (guys did you get the jellies? What do you mean _I_ am in-charge of collecting loot? Isn’t that Jeongyeon’s job?) and really an overkill on all the Drops that they encountered (Minari, first one to kill fifty Drops wins!).

Jihyo loved every second of it.

“Got it!” Momo screamed, waving the rod back and forth to grab the attention of the others.

“Momoring, it’s gross. Stop flinging it around! The jellies are everywhere!”

—

By some miracle, all nine of them were present when Sana’s birthday came.

“You really got her a rod for her birthday, huh? You’re spoiling Sana too much, Ji.” Dahyun remarked, grinning at Sana showing off her rod to everybody in the room. Only Tzuyu was genuinely surprised at the gift, clapping her hands in amusement at what Jihyo gave the mage. The rest were faking it, much to Jihyo’s annoyance (but it’s okay, the _did_ go with her in the trip)

“A rod! Who could have guessed that Jihyo would give a _rod_?”

“That rod looks like it’s fresh from Popo Island! _So cool_!”

“Yeah, definitely fresh from Popo Island, they don’t sell rods like these at the marketplace. Wonder _who_ went to Popo Island?”

“Double check if there are still jelly remnants, Satang. Jellies are icky. Just like Jihyo, icky.”

“Can everybody shut up about Popo Island? It’s not that great of a place anyway. Hmp. The rod is super cool by the way, Sana.”

“You said she needed a new rod, so we got it.” Jihyo blushed. The girls were too much and Sana was too oblivious to it all. “What did you get her, anyway?”

“Some succulent an old man was selling by the warehouse. Sana also mentioned she waned to try gardening.” Dahyun said, laughing as Jihyo’s face twitched in embarrassment.

_Okay, maybe I am spoiling Sana too much._

The night went on, with the nine of them staying behind the mess hall when everybody else was asleep. Jihyo didn’t understand what they were doing, but she was laughing at everything and exchanging smiles with everyone.

And that’s when it hit Jihyo: nine or none.

—

“Sir?” Jihyo opened the door slowly, after she heard the guild master granting her entry.

“Ah, Jihyo. Yes, what is it?” Jinyoung was holding a stack letters, which made Jihyo clutch her own letter tighter.

It was the afternoon after Sana’s birthday, and although Jihyo didn’t suffer from any hangover, it still took her hours before getting off the bed and writing a letter requesting a team change. If it wasn’t with _them_ , Jihyo didn’t want it anymore.

So she made the letter– appealing that her original team be but pack together, listing all the pros this would be for the guild. (It wasn’t a lot, but Jihyo really wanted to go on missions with them again.)

“You have a letter for me?” Jinyoung already had his palm out, waiting for Jihyo to give him the letter.

Jinyoung gave out a laugh. “I never thought you’d be the last one to hand in a request for transfer.”

“What?”

Jinyoung gave a show of waving the letters that were in his other hand. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. She focused on the first letter, it looked like Mina’s script.

“All of them handed in requests for transfers. You’re the last one to do so.” Jinyoung paused, before laughing again. “They all looked like they had too much to drink, ah, _youth_. Anyway, now that you have submitted yours as well, go round them up and meet me once you’re all gathered.”

“ _What_?” Jihyo asked again, refusing to believe what her guild master was saying.

“Your team, Park Jihyo. Round up _your_ team and report to me once you’re all together.”

—

“You’ll need an official name. Unless you want to go by Park Jihyo’s team forever.”

“No, no, definitely not.” Jihyo said, cringing at the thought.

“What about Twice? You know, because we got grouped together once by default and second time by choice.” Tzuyu suggested.

“That’s so corny–” Mina started, eyeing Nayeon but when she realized that it wasn’t Nayeon who said it, she retracted her words immediately “Oh wait Tzuyu suggested it? Okay, let’s go with that!”

“Twice, but make it TWICE! You know, for impact.” Nayeon said, grinning from ear to ear.

“That doesn’t make a difference. You just shouted it the second time around.” Dahyun stated, giving Nayeon a puzzled look.

“Bro, you just have to understand that for Nayeon, shouting makes all the difference.” Chaeyoung said, making everybody laugh.

“So, TWICE. Are there any objections?” Everybody shook their head, smiling from ear to ear. “Alright then. I’ll make the official announcement tonight so you guys can start moving in back to Division 3 by tomorrow. You’ll stay at your previous flat. Are we good?”

“All good, Sir. Thank you.”

—

“Happy birthday again.” Jihyo greeted, spooning Sana from her behind. It was the end of the year, and everything fell back in place: they were teamed up together, they were back in their quarters, and Sana was back in Jihyo’s arms.

Jihyo’s hands were tracing the outline of Sana’a stomach, light touches to where her muscles met, and then they travelled upwards, to the curves of Sana’s mounds.

“Mmm, thank you.” It was breathy, and it only furthered Jihyo’s intentions.

Jihyo started placing light kisses on Sana’s bare shoulder, with her fingers still tracing random outlines of Sana’s left breast. She decided to give the right the same attention as well and intentionally skidded over her nipple, which, surprisingly, was already firm and erect. On contact, Jihyo could feel Sana’s back arch into her own body, pressing against her.

Her kisses were now travelling up Sana’s neck, and she could feel the vibrations of Sana’s whimpers as her lips pressed on her skin. Her fingers were moving inward, and when they blindly hit her nipple, Jihyo gave it a small squeeze. In return, Sana gave out a big moan. Jihyo grinned.

“Raise your leg.”

Sana complied immediately, and Jihyo’s hand was now at the lips below. Moving her fingers absentmindedly, Jihyo propped herself up, now lying on her elbow to maintain her elevation. It gave her the reach to kiss Sana’s lips, and kissing Sana while she was being drunk in want was an experience in itself.

“Hyo.” Sana thrust her hips upward, seeking a harder form of contact with Jihyo’s fingers.

“Mmm?”

“Need you.” Sana’s eyes were still closed, but her eyebrows were meeting at the center and her teeth were starting to bite Jihyo’s lips. Sana spread her leg wider, in effect parting her folds– enough for Jihyo to feel the slick wetness that she had been painstakingly avoiding for the past minutes. It was enough to break Jihyo’s teasing.

It didn’t take Sana long to become undone– it wasn’t like it was her first time to come tonight anyway. (It was her fourth? Fifth? Jihyo didn’t keep track).

Sana turned over, now facing Jihyo with eyes that were unarguably smaller than what her no-sex-look was. She went in for another snuggle and Jihyo was happy to oblige. Before drifting off to sleep, Jihyo managed to tease the blonde beside her.

“I thought what you needed at this point in your life was to master summoning ten bolts per spell, and nothing else?”

Sana slapped Jihyo’s stomach. “Shut it, Hyo.”

Jihyo laughed and ran her fingers through Sana’s hair.

“Mina told me about the whole Popo Island adventure, by the way.” Jihyo could feel a blush creeping up her cheeks. “Keep on being adorable and I may have to bring you to Payon.”

“Why would you bring me to Payon?”

“So that the parents can meet my lover. _You_ may be enough to get them off my back.”

The blush was spreading, and Jihyo could feel her neck burn in red as well.

“I’m not your lover, _princess._ ”

Sana raised her head lazily, putting her chin on Jihyo’s collarbone so she could meet Jihyo in the eye. She gave off a sleepy smile.

“Do you want to be?”

“You’re crazy.”

A wink.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Her facial expression must have been readable because her mentor expounded on his previous statement. “There’s a certain energy a person emits when she’s about to do something life-changing. I can feel a conflict in your energy, Jihyo. Whatever that is, you’re not ready.” 
> 
> —
> 
> Recon unit wins a bet, and the entirety of TWICE embark on another adventure.

Jihyo walked out of her room slowly. She had her fingers trace the wall, a guide of sorts since her eyes were still struggling to open fully. The sunlight pouring into the hallway, probably from the windows of their living room, wasn’t helping her eyes open at all.

_Too bright_.

Jihyo could feel her muscles ache with each step she took– from the moment her heel would land on the floor, an ache would travel upwards to her leg, and when her toes would land a split second later, her back would cry in pain too as it tried to counter the balance of her gait.

The strength unit arrived deep in the night a few hours earlier, fresh from their latest mission of escorting some big shot actor all the way to Geffen. The actor had a big ego, but sadly, had a bigger price on his head among the hired hitmen of his rivaled company (they didn’t buy it, Jihyo mused that the actor pissed off the wrong people, but whatever). The entirety of the trip was Jeongyeon sticking to their client’s side while her and Nayeon engaged with the hitmen. It was bearable, but at some point in their journey a mage started attacking them and long-ranged attacks were truly a pain in the ass (and the legs, and the back).

Through sheer pride alone, Jihyo managed to take down the mage that was hunting them from the shadows– Jihyo would only accept defeat from the hands of one mage, and it sure wasn’t from some tacky hitman targeting on a civilian. But by the end of their battle, the damage was done and her exhaustion made her unable to heal herself (Jeongyeon and Nayeon’s injuries came first– if she didn’t prioritize them, she’d be dragging two handicapped bodies all the way back to Prontera because they’d be too injured to make use of the Kafra teleportation service exclusive for warriors) (ergo, it just wasn’t worth it).

“Minari, look at me.” Momo’s whine echoed in Jihyo’s ear, and it made Jihyo smile.

_Looks like the stealth unit’s already back from their missions as well._

She tried opening her eyes a little wider and could make out three bodies by the coffee table in the living room. Tzuyu was at the center, with a bag of jellopy beside her and Mina, and some arrow heads and sticks splayed on the table. Momo was at Tzuyu’s other side, her elbows taking space on the coffee table as well, with her face resting on her palms, accentuating the pout that was forming.

_Interesting._

Reaching the end of the hallway, Jihyo was pleasantly surprised to see Nayeon already sitting on a bar stool, watching the scene in front of her unfold. On an even more pleasant note, Sana was there sitting beside Nayeon, busy slicing some apples (but if the tilt of her head was any indication, she was listening to Momo’s whining as well).

“Hi. Morning.” Jihyo made a beeline for the bar stool beside Sana, shoving Nayeon playfully as she passed her.

“Hey, good morning sleepyhead.”

“Jihyo quiet down the drama’s getting good.”

“Minari.” Momo whined again, and it seemed like Tzuyu’s face was stiffer than usual.

“Tzuyu, can you hand me an arrowhead, please?” Mina asked, ignoring the Payonese. She looked busy, helping Tzuyu with her arrows. “How many arrows do you wanna make this morning, Tzu?”

“Ah, just enough to fill two quivers.” Tzuyu said, passing to Mina the materials she requested, and giving Momo a small smile. “Mina, if you’re busy, I can do this by myself. Dubu and Chaengie will probably help when they come back.”

“I’m not. I don’t have anything to do today.” Mina said, all her focus now on making the arrow. It would’ve been a cute sight, with Mina’s tongue sticking out in concentration, but the tension from Mina felt dangerous. So no, it wasn’t a cute sight. At all.

“ _Hey, that’s not fair, you said we’d do hiding training today!_ ” Momo was speaking in Payonese, and both Jihyo and Nayeon looked at Sana. “ _Can you please tell me why you’re mad?_ ”

“Sana translate it now.” Nayeon whispered, eyes still on their three teammates in the living room.

“ _Come on,_ Mitang, _you ditched me yesterday, totally ignored me– you still are ignoring me, and now you’re gonna ditch me again?_ ” Momo grabbed a piece of jellopy on the coffee table. “Mina-chan. _Will you please stop ignoring me?_ ” A bullseye. The jellopy landed at the center of Mina’s brow line, making Mina look at Momo.

“ _What’s the use in making plans anyway if you’re just gonna change them on the spot?_ ” Mina was rapping, and her glare was scary– it was enough for Jihyo to shake off all the sleepiness in her body. “ _If you wanna train so bad, go train with that creeper,_ Momo.”

“Oh my fucking god Sana what are they talking about why is Mina using the Momo card don’t you guys have a thousand nicknames for each other?” Nayeon was beyond invested in the drama, and maybe Jihyo was as well.

Momo looked like a kicked puppy.

“ _I let him tag along because he said he’d treat us snacks! I don’t see anything wrong with that_.” Momo threw another piece of jellopy at Mina, this time landing on her nose. “ _He’s a nice guy. Buys food all the time. Don’t you like free food?_ ”

“Mina?” Momo asked, this time more gently. “Are you jealous?”

A lot of things happened at once: Mina snapping the latest arrow she made into half, Tzuyu coughing her lungs out, Sana screaming something incoherent at the apples, and Nayeon… Nayeon being speechless.

“Do you like him? I can set you up on a date if you want.” Momo urged, finally happy to have Mina’s (and everyone else’s, but Momo didn’t know that) attention on her.

Everyone in the room didn’t breathe, all waiting for Mina to respond to Momo’s offer. Momo, with eyes glistening from unshed tears all because Mina was mad at her, Momo who absolutely had no idea what she did wrong, Momo who was always able to melt anybody with her puppy eyes.

And then, Mina laughed. Everyone breathed. Momo may have cried a tear.

“No, Momoring, I don’t want to date him.” Mina gave out a long sigh. “Help me with Tzuyu’s arrows and if we finish early, we’ll train later.”

“Mina it’s _really_ okay. I can do this on my own.” Tzuyu tried to reason out, not really wanting to go through another round of the drama between the thieves, but Mina was already making the next arrow and Momo was already asking how to make one.

“Did you try the apples? I thought the apples were lovely!” Nayeon started.

“The apples are starting to give me a headache.” Sana groaned, eyes darting back and forth between Mina and Momo. “Really, what’s the point in knowing two languages but still not knowing how communicate?”

“Something happened during your mission?” Jihyo started rubbing circles on Sana’s back, making Sana lean into her touch.

Sana shook her head. “No, everything went fine. Standard injuries, nothing potions couldn’t fix. Those two went out yesterday while I was training. Imagine my surprise when I arrived home to a sulking Mina, terrorizing our babies with her bad mood.”

“So _what_ happened?” Nayeon asked.

“Wait, when did you guys arrive, exactly?” Jihyo interrupted.

“Mina kept mentioning about the creeper. You know, the guy that keeps taking out Momo to eat.” Sana chewed on a slice of apple, busy with her thoughts. “Now that Momo mentioned it, Momo _does_ keep on asking for free stuff lately. And she borrowed my split of the reward from the last mission. Interesting.” Jihyo gave her a nudge. “Huh? Oh, we arrived three days ago. I told you, everything went fine. Recon arrived even earlier than us– they beat us by one hour. _Ugh_.”

“Wait, pause on the drama between Mina and Momo. You mean to say we’re the last ones who arrived? And _recon_ arrived first?” Nayeon asked, horrified at the new piece of information.

And as if on cue, the door opened, revealing a trio of sweaty warriors– all who just finished their morning exercise.

“Ah, great! You guys are all up! Time for a team meeting!” Dahyun announced, smiling her best smile at everyone in the room.

Jihyo groaned.

_Too bright._

—

“A job change?” Sana asked, slowly going over the words as if it were a totally foreign concept.

Chaeyoung nodded enthusiastically. She placed out the cards she was holding on their coffee table. “Here are our battle stats. Currently, we’re now doing borderline B-grade missions as a team, and C-grade missions as units. Last year, we spent a month completing a C-grade mission as a team. Now, we’re clearing them in two-weeks time, and by unit at that.”

The cards were impressive. It listed each member’s strengths and weaknesses, preferred weapon, and fighting style. The information was dangerous as well if it would ever fall into wrong hands. “Chewy has already been contacted by the Hunter’s Guild in Payon, asking her if she has any plans on applying, since their application period is near.”

“The Hunter’s Guild is probably the only job guild that sets their application period, but me and Chaeng thought that if Chewy would go for a job change, then all of us should do it.” Dahyun explained. “The cards Chaeyoung made aren’t lying, and based on our calculations, all of us are qualified for a job change. Isn’t that right, Mina?”

All eyes shifted to Mina, making Mina blush at the attention.

“Well, Momo was told by the Thieves’ Guild as well.”

“We said we’d think about it. Job changes take time and if we’d go out, the team would be affected.”

Dahyun hummed in agreement, “Exactly why if Chewy goes for the job change, all of us should go as well. That way, we’ll all have something to do.”

Jihyo laughed. “Wait, so we’re _all_ going on a job change so that… we won’t get bored while waiting for Tzuyu to come back?”

The two geniuses shared a look. “Yes!”

—

In retrospect, Jihyo should’ve have known that there was something shady in Tzuyu (out of all members!) proposing a bet.

The bet was this: they’d wait until the mission board would post three C-grade missions that were perfect for their respective units. They’d leave on the same day, and the first unit to arrive back would get to pick the next thing they did as a team.

They didn’t think about it that deep, Jeongyeon suggested that if their unit won, they’d go on some healing camp by eastern field forest. Sana mentioned that if their unit won, it would have been some kind of carnival outing– with karaoke. Recon team not mentioning their pick should have been the second red flag.

Jihyo massaged her temples. Another headache was forming.

Filing for a temporary leave from the guild was easier than Jihyo expected ( _All_ of you are going to go and change jobs? By all means, go! Just leave a key to your quarters, I’ll have someone clean it up weekly). When Jihyo informed the team about the approval, they started preparing for their job change trips just like that. It was like everyone was expecting it.

_Does it make us airheads? Trying on a job change at this age?_

Jihyo wasn’t immune to the envious eyes that followed them whenever they made rounds as a team. They may be a team of 3rd class warriors in their early 20s, but the cards were right– they kept getting better and better. It was a mixture of both the quality (why would we go back to E-graded missions when we cleared C-graded ones already? Come on bud, don’t sell yourself short) and quantity (okay so we just got back right, but there’s this mission that sounds really cool) of quests they took up. It also helped that her team lived in harmony with one another.

(Sana, I will _not_ be your target practice today! Pick Tzuyu to be your victim today, please.)

(Momo did you eat my share of the food _again_?)

(Your stupidity is getting worse and worse by the day, Nayeon. I honestly don’t know why I even missed you for a second.)

_I mean, we make it work, sometimes._

(Hyo, you gotta believe in us.)

_We totally make it work._

—

“You’re not ready.” Hansuk declared, once Jihyo was in earshot.

Jihyo’s eyes widened in surprise– she was just escorted inside her mentor’s private library; she didn’t even have the chance to greet the 2nd class high acolyte.

Her facial expression must have been readable because her mentor expounded on his previous statement. “There’s a certain energy a person emits when she’s about to do something life-changing. I can feel a conflict in your energy, Jihyo. Whatever that is, you’re not ready.”

“Tell me, child. What is it?” Hansuk gestured for Jihyo to sit down on the couch, and Jihyo wanted nothing more than to run away from her mentor.

It was one thing to be at the receiving end of his sermons and whatnot, it was a completely different thing to be outright refused– she didn’t even get to say her piece. Yet.

“I was planning on embarking to become a monk.” She fidgeted with her hands, her knees were starting to bounce involuntarily, and she could feel that it was getting hard to breathe.

“I see.” He said, although there was a tone of confusion in his voice. Deciding it wasn’t worth probing, Hansuk followed Jihyo’s lead. “The way of the monks is not easy.” Hansuk made a disapproving sound, and it only fueled the air around Jihyo, burning the oxygen around her. “Monks hone their spiritual energy and convert it to physical force. The mental toll in that path is no easy burden. Are you sure about your decision?”

Jihyo faced greater demons before– her family being at the top of that list, so Hansuk’s disapproval shouldn’t have this much power over her. But it did, and Jihyo hated how weak it made her feel. Her palms were getting moist with sweat, and if she didn’t ground herself, a full-blown panic attack was inevitable.

She closed her eyes, concentrating on the carpeted floor beneath her shoes. The carpet was thick enough to mute the sounds of footsteps. May be thick with dust as well. She mapped out where exactly did her feet connect with the floor, at what part of her shoe made contact with the carpet. She breathed in. “Being a monk was always the plan.” She breathed out.

_It was always the plan, ever since I graduated the academy._

“As a mere mentor, you should have no need of my approval or blessing with matters involving your path.” Jihyo could hear Hansuk move around the library. She shifted her focus from her feet to the sounds her mentor was making. It seemed like he was getting a book from a far shelf. “Take this with you, it’s nothing instructional, but it should serve as something to pass by time.”

It was easier to breathe now.

“Thank you, Hansuk.”

—

“Jihyo’s back! Sana get off me and go smother Jihyo instead.” Jeongyeon said, struggling to get out of Sana’s arms.

Jihyo shot Tzuyu, who was the nearest to her, a questioning look.

“Sana’s feeling extra clingy tonight because we’ll be leaving tomorrow.” Tzuyu sighed.

“Awe, don’t miss me too much, Sana.” Jihyo said, wrapping her arms around Sana’s waist once Sana was within reach.

“Aren’t you cocky?” Sana grinned, and the meaning wasn’t lost on Jihyo. Their hug turned into a semi-wrestling match and a few minutes later, they were already on the floor playing around.

“Mitang, collect the children.” Momo commented, smiling at the sight.

“Nah, let them be, Momoring. _Better tire them now than them tiring themselves later_.”

—

Jihyo was _very_ tired. Physically, her muscles were burning from all the running she had been doing for the past hours. Mentally, she was keeping note of all the paths she took, where the invisible walls were placed, and where the fake floors were set. Spiritually, there was nothing left– with the prerequisite of the test drinking a potion that drained all her mana.

She was arguably at the last part of the job change process. It was a test of both patience and endurance, and Jihyo knew deep down that she understood the essence of the test, how it filtered out those who weren’t worthy to become monks, and how it improved one’s mental prowess. But right now, she really, _really_ , just wanted to reach the end of the test. She took a left turn, remembering that this particular corner had an invisible wall on all three sides. She ran for almost another minute straight. Another turn. Some undead monsters in her way– okay, nothing like a good fight to drain the little energy she had left. Repeat.

_Maybe Hansuk was right, maybe I’m not ready._

Her mentor’s words plagued her more than she’d like to acknowledge, but what confused Jihyo more was that he _did_ give his blessing. The book he gave her was a compilation of poems from a poet named Sappho, and Jihyo understood nothing from the archaic language the book used. It was already taxing to read poetry, and archaic poetry made Jihyo’s head hurt. Hansuk didn’t lie, it was something to pass by time indeed– it would take Jihyo an hour to understand a page from the book, and by that mark, the throbbing at her temples were too much to continue reading.

She finished off a wild beast that appeared, and just when her knees were about to give up on her, she could make out a hut some twenty meters ahead. Getting a sudden burst of energy, she continued running.

—

“You’re awake.” A familiar voice said, making Jihyo open her eyes. It was the monk who greeted her when she first entered the monk temple, and Jihyo gave the familiar face a smile.

She could feel her body aching in all places– it had been a long time since she felt this kind of pain, it was as if she didn’t take any potions nor did she have any healing spell cast on her.

“We didn’t.” The monk said, anticipating Jihyo’s question. “The last test was supposed to drain you in all aspects, and let your body run it’s natural course of healing. Think of it as a clean slate. Nothing helped you, you made it out on your own.”

_Huh._

“So… if, say, I had an infection from my last battle and nobody healed me, I would have died?” Jihyo managed to voice out. Her voice was scratchy, and her throat was parched. The monk offered her a glass filled with a green-colored concoction.

“In the simplest of terms, yes.”

Jihyo finished the drink, not bothering to dwell on her nearly escaped encounter with death.

“There is an onsen if you go down the stairs. Take your time with your bath. A change of clothes should be there as well. We’ll have a ceremony at the top floor once you make your appearance.” Jihyo gave a weak nod. “Not everybody who wants to be a monk gets to be a monk. Congratulations, warrior.”

—

It took Jihyo two months before coming back to the guild. The first month took up her application period and the succeeding month was spent on her resting fully before she felt well enough to travel again. The resting period did something to her spiritual energy, and whoever devised the whole thing was nothing short of a genius.

The change of clothes did something as well, and maybe it was all in the head but wearing the clothes the temple provided– some chunky combat boots, black leather pants, a dress shirt that had a thin layer of chain mail sandwiched between its layers, and a short-sleeved hooded cloak that ended just below her knees, made Jihyo feel unstoppable.

Jihyo could see a crowd forming at the entrance of Division 1’s building, and figuring she could delay her return to the barracks by five minutes more, she decided to check it out.

“Does everybody have a questionnaire already? Drop your answers in this box here. Please tell your teammates about this. All results will be used for JYPE’s betterment.”

It seemed like Jihyo wasn’t the only one with a change of clothes– seeing Dahyun in the standard alchemist’s garb sent a surge of pride through Jihyo’s body, ultimately manifesting as an ear-splitting grin.

“Yah, Kim Dahyun!” Jihyo shouted from the back, adding a small jump so that her teammate could see her.

“Ji! You’re home!” Dahyun dropped whatever conversation she was having and rushed into Jihyo’s arms. “I missed you! It’s been so lonely.”

Jihyo hugged Dahyun tight. “I missed you too, Dubu.” She held Dahyun by the shoulders, giving her look a complete once-over. “Look at you, my little alchemist!” Dahyun let out a laugh, before playfully shoving Jihyo.

“You’re little as well, Ji.” Dahyun assessed the booth she was manning. “Wanna go home? I’ll study the papers later.” Before Jihyo could reply, Dahyun was already pulling Jihyo by the wrist back to their own barracks.

—

Dahyun arrived a week earlier, but a week alone in their flat was enough for Dahyun to start on multiple experiments, including the forms she was handing out earlier.

They were in the middle of their dinner, with Dahyun telling Jihyo all about her current experiments, when the door opened. It was exciting, guessing who would appear next.

“I’m home!”

_Sana_.

In an instant, Dahyun was out of her seat and was in Sana’s arms, hugging the wizard just as tight as she hugged Jihyo earlier. “This day keeps on getting better!”

“Welcome home.” Jihyo called out, looking fondly at her two teammates from her bar stool. Sana looked up in surprise, finding Jihyo’s eyes shortly after.

They spent their night together in the living room, all three exchanging variations of how they were nearly killed and pushed to the brink of exhaustion. It made Jihyo feel high, laughing and talking among her friends after months of solitude. The gentle touches Sana gave her were different tonight, it didn’t feel like lightning coursing through her veins– this time, it felt like opening a house in the middle of a snow storm and being able to finally sitting down in front of a lit fireplace; Sana was like the hearth.

(Jihyo didn’t know what that meant, but it was the nearest thing she could associate with whenever Sana would laugh at Dahyun’s punchline and she’d place her hand on Jihyo’s thigh; or alternatively, when Sana snuggled to her side as their talks were winding down and sleep was getting to them.)

—

“The guild master looked really happy.” Sana said, as soon as they exited Division 1.

“Yeah, he should be, considering that he has three new 2nd class warriors under his guild now. And is expecting six more in the coming days. He should give our team a better place, honestly.”

“Well then,” Sana said, sliding up next to Jihyo, casually taking her hand in hers, “I think it’s a leader’s job to demand things for her team, don’t you?”

It was the first time they were alone since Sana arrived, with them spending the night and morning with Dahyun, and then reporting to their guild master right after breakfast. Jihyo was reminded of how nice it felt to have Sana’s fingers interlaced with her own. Jihyo turned her attention to Sana, taking in her presence.

If Jihyo felt unstoppable with her temple-issued wear, seeing Sana in a wizard’s attire– knee high boots with an untucked dress shirt that reached her thighs, her figure accentuated by the thick belt around her waist, and a cloak wrapped around her that was an inch shy from reaching the floor; well, Jihyo felt like she was standing before royalty.

(Sana was still a Minatozaki, and royalty fitted her quite well.)

There was this urge to kneel before Sana, and just do _things_ to her, things that were inappropriate to do at the middle of the street in broad daylight.

“– Hyo, you’re spacing out.” Sana squeezed Jihyo’s hand and swung it around, bringing Jihyo back to their conversation. “Come back to me.” Sana whined, and although the urge to worship Sana was still there, another idea popped into Jihyo’s head.

“Wanna go to the carnival at West Prontera? Dahyun shooed us away so we can’t go back to the barracks just yet.” Jihyo even added her gummy smile to persuade Sana. (Totally unnecessary, Sana was ready to say yes to anything Jihyo suggested anyway.)

“It’s a date!” Sana grinned. When Sana didn’t let go of her hand as they walked through the streets of Prontera, Jihyo pretended to be casual at the whole public show of affection; and when Sana got too excited and would swing their hands around, Jihyo would hold her hand a little tighter, just so it wouldn’t slip away.

The tolling of the church bells reached the carnival’s area, and Jihyo was briefly reminded of her mentor. Another visit was due soon.

“Jihyo, I see that you’ve returned safely.”

_Oh my god why is he here?_

Jihyo stiffened, her hand immediately letting go of Sana and her feet taking a step forward, somewhat blocking Sana from Hansuk’s eyes. (Not that it made a difference, Hansuk probably saw everything before he approached them. Probably.)

“Ah, I arrived only recently. I was planning on visiting you tomorrow.”

Hansuk nodded, his eyes not straying from Jihyo’s gaze. “Very well. Let’s talk more tomorrow.” His eyes flitted to where Sana was for a split second. “A confession, perhaps?”

Jihyo couldn’t breathe. She was all wrapped up in her head that she didn’t notice her mentor leave them. She could feel her hands going cold, and her heart was beating too fast that any moment it might jump out of her chest– well that or it would be crushed by her ribs considering that she couldn’t get any air inside her body. Whatever came first. A headache was coming as well.

“Hyo?” Sana called to her, and when she didn’t answer, Sana’s icy fingertips touched her back, making Jihyo recoil at her touch. “Jihyo? What’s wrong?” Sana sounded hurt, and hearing it hurt Jihyo as well.

“Do you want to head back now?” Sana asked again, her voice gentler this time. Jihyo gave a weak nod. Sana reached out for Jihyo’s hand, but Jihyo was quick to move, and was already walking ahead of Sana, avoiding physical contact at all costs.

Sana didn’t question her further, not during their walk back to the barracks, not when Jihyo excused herself from dinner, and not when Jihyo was crouched on the roof throughout the night. Sana respected the space that she put between them, and Jihyo spent all night thinking of how to bring it down.

—

“Moguri, you’re back!” Sana’s voice stirred Jihyo from her sleep, and _God, it’s been so long since I woke up to this_. Jihyo made her wait out of her room to welcome Momo home as well.

Momo was indeed back and was currently trying to break free from Sana’s embrace. “Satang let me breathe. I can’t breathe!”

“What’s this, Momo?” Dahyun picked up a package that Momo dropped by the door, probably when Sana started smothering her.

“Ah, heh. Nothing much. Just something I… got.” And Momo, despite being a formidable opponent, could not lie to save her life. “Gimme that!” She reached for the box in Dahyun’s hand, and if Jihyo’s eyes weren’t trained to follow fast movements, it looked like Momo teleported out of Sana’s arms to snatch the box from Dahyun’s hand.

“Welcome back, Mo.” Jihyo went to hug Momo. She met Sana’s eyes while hugging Momo, and Sana looked impassive, a total opposite of how she was giggling at Momo earlier. Jihyo managed to mouth of an apology, and Sana acknowledged it with a small nod, and an even smaller smile.

—

The visit to Hansuk was the weirdest one to date, and Jihyo couldn’t help but feel she wasted a whole day in her mentor’s library. The whole conversation felt like they were going around in circles, or really, it felt like _she_ was going around in circles and Hansuk was just there to listen. Jihyo expected the topic of Sana to be brought up because from an outsider’s point of view (and Jihyo’s as well), what they did yesterday was what couples would do when they went out on a date.

_Why didn’t he ask about it? Last time he was all up in my business._

Jihyo had this unfounded anger within her ever since she hurt Sana last night with her actions, and she was itching to pick a fight. With anyone, even with her mentor. Especially with her mentor. But old man Hansuk was just sitting down in his lavish living room chair, nodding along to Jihyo’s rant. It only infuriated her more. By the end of their talk, Sana was never brought up, which was a shame. Jihyo _really_ needed to let off steam.

So, when Jihyo reached JYPE and found some guild members sparring at the training grounds, she hastily volunteered to spar with them. No weapons– only hands, legs, and magic. It worked, every hit she landed made her feel something other than anger. She didn’t notice that her opponents were already switching among them, all unable to keep up with the infuriated monk.

She wouldn’t have noticed it if it wasn’t for somebody brave enough to step in between her and some poor boy who was pushed by his teammates to face Jihyo’s fist.

“Woah there, Park. Take it easy.” The soft voice mixed with a distinct cocky tone flipped a switch in Jihyo’s mind. And eyes, too. She refocused her eyes on the person in between her and her target. Jihyo was greeted with a gummy smile, to which she matched with her own.

“Mina!” Jihyo’s fists unclenched, and she tackled Mina into a hug. “When did you get back?”

“Just now. I planned to go directly to the barracks, but I heard people talking about some crazy lady punching everybody in the training grounds. I got curious.” Mina hugged Jihyo tight, rolling their bodies on the ground. “Turns out they were right; it was some crazy lady punching everybody.”

Jihyo gave a half-hearted punch to Mina’s stomach, which only made Mina laugh. “Wanna head back? Are the others home as well?” Mina asked, pushing Jihyo off her body so she could stand.

“I’m not sure who’s home actually. I left early this morning.” Jihyo said, pulling herself off the ground with the help of Mina’s hand. “Dahyun’s here, that’s for sure. If you didn’t see her by Division 1, then she’s probably cooped up inside the flat.” Jihyo saw Mina smile at the mention of Dahyun. “Also, Sana and Momo arrived as well.” And that was enough for Mina to go on a full-blown run towards their barracks. (Jihyo, run faster!)

—

Apparently, the box that Momo brought with her home contained a hat. To be more specific, Momo’s special box contained a custom-made teddy bear hat from the snow village of Lutie, which took three months and some half-million zeny to make. Cherry on top of this was that it wasn’t for her, no, it was for Mina; _just because_.

Sana was livid (Momoring, you depleted all your savings and borrowed nearly a hundred thousand from me and who knows who else, for an impulse buy?), although her anger at Momo’s was thoroughly mixed with excitement because Mina may have kissed Momo on the lips when Momo gave her the present, _just because_.

(Momo kissed Mina again, to clarify that it wasn’t a _just because_ thing; and Jihyo wasn’t sure if it was Mina or Sana who melted, maybe both. Maybe it was her and Dahyun as well.)

It was all very cute to look (and laugh) at: Mina wearing the teddy bear hat with a silver-toothed grin, Momo looking at Mina like she held the secret to the galaxies on her face, and Sana sobbing like a big baby beside them because her two best friends finally got together.

“They’re so whipped for each other, it’s kinda gross.” Jihyo remarked. She made the mistake of looking at Sana’s direction, and their eyes met. She didn’t know what made her do it, but Jihyo gave Sana a small wave of the hand to which Sana gave a small wave in reply as well.

The exchange didn’t go unnoticed by Dahyun. “Yeah well, you’re the one to talk, Miss Popo Island Adventure.” Jihyo rolled her eyes. Dahyun cleared her throat, “And Ji, I know it’s just been a day, but you guys need to talk.”

Jihyo shifted her attention to fully focus on Dahyun, “What do you mean, Dubu?” Jihyo thought whatever they had with Sana was kept between them, well, at least she thought the cold shoulder was kept between them. (After all, it just started the night before. Jihyo _was_ going to fix it. Later. Maybe.)

“You aren’t talking with Sana. I don’t know what happened when you guys went out yesterday, but ever since then you’ve been avoiding people and Sana’s been mopey all day today.” Dahyun took off her glasses, rubbing away some mist that gathered on the lens. “Ji, Sana was with Momo and me today. Yet she was still sulking. You have to understand that that isn’t normal, _at all_.”

—

Momo and Sana went out to buy dinner for the team, much to Momo’s complaints (Momo you won’t even pay for anything, not that you have any zeny to your name. Just go with me, you don’t want your girlfriend hungry, don’t you?). That left Mina and Jihyo lazing on the couch with Jihyo’s head on Mina’s shoulder, watching Dahyun with mild interest as she went over her papers on the coffee table.

“Mina.” Jihyo started, nudging Mina’s ribs to get the assassin’s attention.

“Mm?”

“Aren’t you scared?” Jihyo asked, “You know, with you being a Myoui and all.”

Mina moved around to face Jihyo, cupping Jihyo’s face with her hands. “Sana’s crazy about you, if that answers your real question.” Dahyun gave out a laugh below, which made Jihyo shove Mina back into the couch. “That totally wasn’t the question.”

“That was totally _the_ question.” Dahyun butted in, in between her laughs. Jihyo kicked Dahyun’s back for good measure.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You’re ready.” He finally said, after a few minutes of silence. “The conflict in your energy– it’s gone.” 
> 
> _
> 
> Jihyo's trying her best, and she may have an arbitrary deadline on certain things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags have been updated, and hopefully those will be final. (If you disagree, tell me, nothing is really finaly in the grand scheme of things, anyway.)

Tonight, it was Sana who excused herself right after dinner. Jihyo tried not to look _that_ disappointed. When the door to Sana and Nayeon’s room clicked shut, all eyes were on Jihyo.

“Jihyo.” Momo had her arms crossed over her chest, her eyes a little smaller than usual because of how her eyebrows pushed down in seriousness.

“Momoring.” Mina placed a hand on Momo’s thigh, effectively softening Momo’s hard set features. Jihyo wasn’t stupid, she knew that in a heartbeat Mina would choose Sana over everybody else (except for Momo) but she knew Mina was more understanding between the two dagger specialists.

“I know.” Jihyo sighed. She eyed the empty plates on their table, calculating the time needed to take to wash all the dishes before she’d go do the inevitable and talk to Sana. It wouldn’t even take ten minutes. Maybe she could stretch it out to thirty.

“I’ll do the dishes tonight.” Dahyun said, grabbing the plates.

“No, Dubu let me.” Jihyo tried to grab back her plate from Dahyun, who only looked at her with a raised eyebrow with the unspoken question of _what are you doing_ ringing in Jihyo’s mind.

“Jihyo.” This time it was Mina. Jihyo was an excellent soldier. She was never the type to be told things twice. But it was different with Sana. Sana, whose favorite time of the day was after dinner because the members would hang around together and talk– and that was Sana’s two favorite things in the world: her members and talking. Sana, who she hurt in the middle of her panic-induced flight mechanism last night. Sana, who she spent her better nights with; Sana who made her nights better.

It shouldn’t be hard to talk to Sana. It’s _Sana_. But it was– precisely because it was Sana. Jihyo could feel fear creep up on her, rooting her in her chair. “I’m scared.”

Momo’s lips twitched, forming a slow-spreading grin that Mina and Dahyun mimicked after a moment. “You guys need to talk, Ji. It’s been over a day.”

“It’s been over a year, actually.” Mina corrected, making Momo laugh. Jihyo let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. She gave Mina a small smile, thankful for the jest that took her out of her thoughts.

(Mina was right, she always is. They should’ve talked before everything.)

Finding strength in her members’ smiles, she excused herself and made her way to the front of Sana and Nayeon’s room.

A knock.

Silence.

She gripped the doorknob, twisting it to the left just so. It was smooth, and if she twisted further, it would open.

—

“Sana?” Jihyo spoke out tentatively, her eyes squinting to adjust to the darkness of the room. She closed the door quietly behind her and leaned on the doorframe for support. She could make out two beds at the opposite ends of the walls, and on the right bed, a figure under the blankets.

She urged her feet to move; and it was easier at this point since she could see her goal. She made herself comfortable on the floor beside Sana’s bed. If Jihyo would tilt her head backwards, it would hit the surface of Sana’s mattress, but she didn’t. Instead, Jihyo curled into a shell, hugging her legs close to her chest, her forehead resting on her knees.

She went over this scenario some fifty times over her head last night, how she would apologize for her actions and promise to never do it again. It was simple. It’d be a done deal under a minute.

It didn’t happen.

Instead:

“When I was six, I told my parents that I had a crush on the vegetable lady’s daughter. That was the first time I had a beating.” Jihyo could hear her heart pounding, but above that, she could hear Sana shuffle in the bed behind her. “I was told it wasn’t right.”

Jihyo could feel Sana’s palm on her head, and it was enough for Jihyo to lean back. Her eyes studied the ceiling. Or she tried to, but it was too dark. “When I was eleven, I had this friend who I played with everyday. One time, she scraped her knee, so I took her home and asked mom for a plaster to put over her wound.” Sana was stroking her hair now, slowly, just enough to give Jihyo strength in continuing her story. “My friend kissed me in the cheek as a thank you, but I guess my mother took it the wrong way. That was my second beating. It didn’t happen again, but they enrolled me to the academy the moment I turned twelve. Told me to do well and pray more. That after, I should apply to become an acolyte. I didn’t need go home, they said, I just needed to pray.”

Sana moved from the bed and plopped beside Jihyo, her arms pulling Jihyo into an embrace. “They weren’t there when I graduated, but by that time I thought I got over it. I had Nayeon and Jeongyeon with me anyway.” She detached herself from Sana’s arms, to wipe away the tears that were running down her face. She gave Sana a small smile.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring that up.” Jihyo cleared her throat, taking a moment to gather her bearings. “I really just want to say that I’m sorry. For last night.”

She took Sana’s hands in her own rough ones, rubbing circles on Sana’s soft palms. “I am so sorry, Sana. What I did last night was wrong. I have no excuses.”

Sana removed her hands from Jihyo’s grasp, and Jihyo felt her heart drop. It all lasted for a split second because Sana was now cupping Jihyo’s face, making her look into her eyes. “Hyo.”

And technically it has been just over a day since the whole thing but Jihyo _missed_ Sana. She could feel the pad of Sana’s thumb trace the path of her tears, wiping them away. “You did nothing wrong. I mean, yeah last night sucked and you suck but what happened when you were a child– you did nothing wrong.”

And Jihyo knew. She knew that after the years it took to unlearn what was beaten into her. She knew her parents were the ones in the wrong but to hear it from another person, to hear it from Sana, was more than enough to make Jihyo breakdown.

She didn’t know how long she cried, didn’t know how long Sana was just there rubbing random patterns on her back, but she knew that they were good again, and maybe what she unloaded made her a little more whole. Jihyo raised her head, high enough so she could rest her forehead against Sana’s. She bumped Sana’s nose with her own, effectively turning the frown that was etched in Sana’s face upside down. “Thank you. For listening. For everything, actually.”

Sana moved her head a little back, creating an inch’s worth of distance more between them. “Anytime.” She gave Jihyo a kiss on the forehead, making Jihyo feel lighter than she was already feeling. Another kiss on her closed eyes, first the left and then the right. It felt like a healing spell, and Jihyo was content in the darkness of their room, under Sana’s light pecks. Another one on both her cheeks. Then another one on her chin.

When Jihyo opened her eyes, she could see Sana looking at her, waiting.

Jihyo dipped an inch closer to Sana, making their lips meet.

It had been around eighty days since she last kissed Sana, so every kiss felt eighty times better. Sort of, Jihyo couldn’t really think about the accuracy of the numbers in her head when her lips were busy, and her tongue was fighting an all too familiar battle.

Hands were running around Jihyo’s back and what was once something that offered comfort half an hour ago now demanded the layers of clothing to be taken off.

They were on the bed, with Jihyo flat on her back and Sana on top grinding against her, thoroughly enjoying the way Jihyo tried suppressing her moans. At the very least, Jihyo was sure the back of her hand would hold bruises tomorrow, from all the biting she’s been doing.

She could feel Sana getting wetter with every thrust, and if her sense of touch failed her, she was sure she could hear it– the way the slapping noises got louder and louder. It was enough for Jihyo to take matters into her own hands. Sana was having way too much fun on her expense.

Jihyo sat up, her mouth finding Sana’s, instantly making whatever Sana was about to complain on get stuck in her throat. A hand made its way down between them and her finger slipped easily enough into the parted folds. One. Two. Three.

“So wet.” Sana responded with a bite to her bottom lip and a thrust against her fingers.

It was time to treat Sana like the royalty she was.

—

Jihyo woke to light kisses on her shoulder, and later, when Sana would accuse her of feigning sleep just to have more kisses, she’d deny it with a smile.

“Good morning, sleepyhead.” Sana whispered in Jihyo’s ear before spooning Jihyo, pulling Jihyo closer to her body.

Jihyo turned to face Sana, and with the help of the sunlight that was spilling from the window, she took her time in admiring Sana’s features.

She might have taken too long staring at Sana because she felt Sana pinch her side. “Where’s my good morning?” A pout formed, which only furthered Jihyo’s smile.

She pecked Sana on the forehead, now having the leverage, shifted their limbs to become the bigger spoon. “Good morning, Sana.” She gave a tight squeeze, and repeated her greeting, this time in a whisper and something more heartfelt “Good morning.”

—

Jihyo walked out of Sana’s room with a smile. She was about to head to her own room to get more sleep when a falcon perched on the nearest open window caught her eye. Jihyo hurriedly made her way to the living room and tackled from behind the unassuming body sitting on the couch.

“Tzuyu! Our baby hunter is home!” Her arms were wrapped around Tzuyu’s neck and she was swinging them side to side. She could hear Tzuyu laugh and Jihyo laughed along, happy to have another member back.

“Yah! Where’s my welcome?” Jihyo widened her eyes in surprise– Chaeyoung was lying on the couch, her head on Tzuyu’s lap and her hands wide open for Jihyo’s hug as well. Jihyo grinned, before flopping onto the couch and into Chaeyoung’s arms.

“Don’t tell me you two arrived back together?” Jihyo asked, after squeezing the life out of Chaeyoung.

“We did.” Tzuyu confirmed, poking Jihyo’s cheeks.

“How is that even possible?” Jihyo asked in wonder. “Does Dubu know you’re back?”

“We met up at Izlude. Trips to Hugel and Einbroch are only accessible from Izlude and the trips are on the same day. I was having dinner in the inn where we stayed, and this hunter sat beside me.” Chaeyoung explained, back to hugging Jihyo with one arm while her other hand was dangling off the couch.

“It was the only seat available.”

“It was _not_ the only seat available.”

Jihyo rolled her eyes, not bothering to look up. She could easily imagine Tzuyu’s cheeks huff in denial.

Their main door opened, and Jihyo reckoned she needed to get away from the couch–

“You guys are back!” Dahyun shouted, and if Jihyo’s greeting to Tzuyu wasn’t enough to wake the Payonese from their sleep, then Dahyun’s shout should have done the trick. Unfortunately for Jihyo, she never got out in time and was sandwiched in between their babies’ mini reunion.

Sana, Momo, and Mina joined in the dog pile on the couch a few minutes later and Jihyo stopped complaining because at least it wasn’t her at the bottom of the pile. (It was Chaeyoung.)

(Guys I miss you I really do but get off, I can’t breathe.)

—

They were having breakfast in the mess hall below and disregarding the stares that they got from the other guild members, it felt nice. Their table was loud, mostly from Dahyun going on and on about how lonely it was when she first arrived and from Sana and Momo both babying Dahyun to make up for the time she was alone. Sana was back at it with her random touches to Jihyo, and Jihyo loved it. Possibly Mina did too because when Sana intertwined her free hand in Jihyo’s, Mina gave Jihyo a wink. 

“Where’d you get this book by the way, Ji? Gay writing is hard to come by.” Chaeyoung asked.

“What?” Jihyo saw Chaeyoung wave around the book that Hansuk gave her as his form of blessing when she went on her trip to become monk.

“This one. Compilation of Sappho’s poetry.”

“ _What_?” Because: why would her traditional-probably-bigoted mentor give her a work of homosexual literature? “Sappho’s gay?”

Chaeyoung had her mouth open in disbelief. “You’re asking if _Sappho_ is gay? Sappho the origin of the adjective sapphic, Sappho your friendly gal from the isle of Lesbos. From _Lesbos_ , where we got the term lesbian. You know, because of Sappho?”

Jihyo spaced out. It was too much to take in. She had a feeling when she tried reading the poetry during her down time last month but _god_ , reading archaic poetry gave her headaches. Hansuk too, gave her headaches.

“Chaengie I think you broke our leader.” Sana said, her hand shaking Jihyo’s shoulder.

“I thought _you_ broke her.” Momo said, sniggering at Sana’s concern for Jihyo.

The comment was enough to snap Jihyo back to the present. “What?”

“Satang wasn’t exactly… silent.” Mina said, picking her words carefully. “Props to you tho, Ji, for you know. Whatever you did.” Momo and Dahyun were both laughing, and Chaeyoung and Tzuyu were looking at Jihyo with a puzzled expression.

“Odin on a stick, Sana make them shut up.” Jihyo said, her face red in embarrassment. Sana, on the other hand, was laughing with them.

“I’m very confused now, Chewy.” Chaeyoung said, and Tzuyu could only nod along.

—

(Stop pacing around the room, you’re making me dizzy.)

(Ji, if Mina were here, you’d have been stabbed by now from all your fidgeting.)

(Sana will you please tell Jihyo to go church already. She’s not listening to any of us.)

(Hyo.)

—

“Enter.”

Jihyo went inside and saw Hansuk donning his chasuble.

_Ah, bad timing. He must have a mass soon._

Hansuk stared at Jihyo, and despite being scrutinized under his eyes, Jihyo felt almost… comforted? Maybe all the pacing around back in the flat did something to her head.

“You’re ready.” He finally said, after a few minutes of silence. “The conflict in your energy– it’s gone.”

“I’m gay.” Jihyo blurted out; and having those words leave her mouth for the first time didn’t feel strange at all. It felt natural. The best sentence she ever spoke. “I’m gay, and I’m not going to apologize about it.”

It became a staring contest for about a minute. Hansuk was the first one to break.

“There’s nothing to apologize for.” Jihyo did a double take. She may have misjudged her mentor for years.

“I thought–”

“Jihyo, child, how can an act as pure as love be a sin?” Hansuk shook his head, smiling fondly at his mentee. “You’re always too harsh on yourself.”

He gestured for Jihyo to sit down. “Something happened with the Minatozaki wizard, I assume?” He glanced at the wall clock, “I have a mass to preside in fifteen, you can give me a quick summary.”

“How can you tell it’s about her?” Jihyo asked, and maybe, her question was stupid. She was about to retract it, when Hansuk replied.

“There’s something about the way you talk when it revolves around her. You have this tendency to name everybody– Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu. These are your members, am I correct?” Jihyo nodded, delighted that Hansuk cared enough to remember their names. “But never about Minatozaki. I still don’t know her name because you never say it out loud. It’s almost as if you’re afraid of speaking her name in my presence.” Jihyo gave a chuckle, Hansuk wasn’t wrong.

“We fought. Or rather, I freaked out when we bumped at the carnival.”

“And you’re happy now, why?”

“We made up.” Jihyo gave out a laugh because the situation was almost absurd in her head. “I may have accidentally spilled some bottled-up memories in the process, but we made up.”

“You know, I misjudged you.” Jihyo confessed, ashamed of all the times she ranted about her mentor. Hansuk waved it off.

“I probably deserve it.” He looked at the time, and it was about the right moment to go. “In my own way, I tried to steer you to the path to become a priest, because that’s my path and it’d be easier to guide you like that. I guess some things got lost in translation.”

“You’re a good guy, Hansuk.” Jihyo stood up, making her way to the door.

“I’m a 2nd class high acolyte, I wouldn’t have been rebirthed if I wasn’t… _good_ , Jihyo.”

_So now he tells jokes._

Fingers around the doorknob, Jihyo gave one last look at her mentor before taking her leave. “Sana. Her name’s Sana.”

—

“It’s Mina, that little piece of shit!” Jihyo would know that obnoxious voice anywhere, and it’s been about time she heard it again.

“You’re seriously believing some page six reporter?” Another familiar voice. Jihyo’s grin doubled in size.

Two figures clad in various layers of chainmail were walking down the street, unaware of how their presence made people steer clear from them. Although Jihyo wasn’t sure if it was the chainmail or their voices that deterred people away.

“That reporter was Payonese! He knows his Payon royalty. Who else could be ‘the younger Myoui’, huh?” The smaller of the two waved a piece of paper in front of the taller one– a blonde with a shield a little taller than half her height.

“And who would she be linked to, anyway? Mina absolutely despises people who aren’t us. Oh wait, she also despises you too.” Hearing it made Jihyo laugh at the comment and seeing the shorter give a punch in reply made her laugh harder.

_God, I miss these two._

“Shut up. If she dates anyone other than Momo, I am so going to end her. Poor Momo’s been in love with her since forever.” The two were near her now, some three steps away from being in her arms’ reach.

“Don’t worry, it’s Momo.” She butted in, and the swordsmen whipped their heads in her direction, totally oblivious to her prior to the interruption.

“Hug?” Jihyo asked, spreading out her arms. Nayeon was the first to get over the shock, jumping right into Jihyo’s embrace. Jeongyeon followed right after, nearly making them tumble down with all the weight she was wearing.

“What took you idiots so long?” Jihyo asked, after she untangled herself from them.

“Crusader quests are always long.” Jeongyeon said, groaning. “This is all Dubu’s fault, the 2nd job bet thing.”

“And you, Im Nayeon?” Jihyo asked, fully knowing that a knight’s quest was one of the fastest to complete because if you were good, you were promoted; if you were bad, you’d get your sword-wielding license revoked. Nayeon was good, great even.

“I finished it under a month, actually.” Nayeon sent her a wink.

“She camped outside the castle, waiting for me to finish as well.” Jeongyeon supplied, and Jihyo wasn’t surprised.

“And what if I did?” Nayeon asked, flicking her fingers on Jeongyeon’s forehead. “The first one to congratulate you on your milestones should be me, Yoo Jeongyeon. The sooner you get that through your head, the smarter you’ll be.”

“So anyway, what did you mean about Momo?” Nayeon asked Jihyo, squishing the monk in between her and Jeongyeon as they made their way back home.

—

“YOU GUYS GOT TOGETHER WITHOUT ME WITNESSING IT?” Nayeon, for all her love for the dramatics, was totally immersed in being fake offended the moment they opened the door to their flat.

“Oh god, she’s back.” Mina groaned, stuffing her face in the crook of Momo’s neck.

“Jeongie! Welcome back!” Momo shouted from the couch, waving enthusiastically at Jeongyeon.

Nayeon wiggled her way in between Mina and Momo’s positions on the couch, and for all the complains Mina gave while Nayeon was worming around, her hands wrapped around Nayeon’s body as soon as the swordsman found a comfortable position.

“BABIES GET OUT OF YOUR ROOMS AND GIVE ME A KISS NOW!”

“The babies are out, Nay. Don’t worry, I’ll give you a kiss.” Sana sauntered into the living room, giving Nayeon a peck on each cheek. “Welcome home.” She made her way to Jeongyeon after, giving their tank a tight hug and two pecks as well.

Jihyo watched with an amused expression on her face.

“Satang, Jihyo wants her kiss too.” _Mina you little shit_.

Sana grinned, moving towards Jihyo, making kissy faces at their leader. Jihyo laughed, opting to hug Sana in place before she’d actually do something scandalous.

“Chaeng and Tzuyu mentioned that guild master wants to meet us when we’re complete, by the way.” Sana said.

“A mission?”

“A mission!” Momo squealed, excitement shining in her eyes.

—

“This is boring.” Momo whined, her head lying on the table, glaring at the piece of paper stuck to her cheek.

“Moguri, hush. The next round of applicants will enter in a few minutes and we need to be actually interested to be able to grade them.” Sana slapped Momo’s cheek playfully, earning a not-so-playful shove from Momo in return.

Their _mission_ was to assess the JYPE aspirants in Payon, to pick some fifteen students per strand, train them, and then half their number before sending them to the headquarters back in Prontera for the main application process. It was some grand scheme, much more elaborate than their own application process, and Jihyo didn’t dwell on what their guild master was thinking this time around.

Like Momo said, it was boring. Not that Jihyo would say that out loud, her members would never let her hear the end of it. On the bright side, the mission compensated them well, and gave them good lodging and food. Plus, there was no way they’d get hurt.

“I wanna kill monsters.” Mina mumbled under her breath, but it was Mina, and everyone was already attuned to her low voice. Jeongyeon agreed from the far end of their long table.

This was going to be a _long_ month.

—

“Mina’s parents hated me.” Momo whined, her head on Nayeon’s lap.

“I knew being hateful was a Myoui thing.” Nayeon remarked while stroking Momo’s hair, furthering Momo’s despair.

Jeongyeon laughed, patting Momo’s knees in an attempt to comfort the rogue. “Nayeon’s just joking, Mo. And even if that’s true, it doesn’t matter. Mina sees something in you, I don’t know what it is, but she sees something.”

“It’s probably the abs.” Chaeyoung piped in, earning a pinch in the ear from Tzuyu and a wink from Momo.

The door to their suite opened, and Momo was out of Nayeon and Jeongyeon’s laps and was by the door in an instant.

“How’d the family dinner go? And more importantly am I still allowed to date you? I knew sitting beside Sana during lunch was a bad idea. Minari, you should’ve stopped m–”

Mina cut Momo of with a peck. “Are you dating me or my parents?”

“You, but you know… your parents.” Momo said uneasily.

Mina kissed Momo again, much to the horror of everybody in the room. “It’s okay, they’ll come around.”

“They don’t necessarily hate _you_ , Mo. They’re just put off because they knew their princess was dating from reading the tabloids before Mina told them herself.” Sana said, bee lining to where Jihyo sat, making herself comfortable on the monk’s lap.

“They’re overreacting. We live in Prontera, how could I have told them?”

“Mitang, we’ve been here for two weeks already. It was a Payon-based tabloid they threw at you during dinner.”

“They threw a newspaper at you? It was _that_ bad?” Momo paled, and Jihyo was absolutely horrified for Momo.

“Oh shut it, Satang.” Mina sent a glare in Sana’s direction. “It’s not like you fared better during dinner.”

Jihyo’s hands tightened around Sana’s waist. “What happened to you?”

Sana gave off a shrug, “Same old, they want a lover.”

—

“And remember, a shield both serves as offense as well as defense. This ends our session.” Jeongyeon concluded the class, giving them a nod to disperse. “What’s up, bud?”

Jeongyeon was Jihyo’s rock. Well, her and Nayeon, but Nayeon would make a big deal out of whatever she was going to ask and at this time, she didn’t need her thoughts to get louder.

“Midgard to Jihyo?” Jeongyeon held Jihyo by the shoulders, shaking her to get back her attention.

Jihyo cleared her throat and started to pick up some training gear on the floor. “Nayeon.”

“What did she do this time? I told her to stay away from that odd kid selling candies down the street.” Jeongyeon started, listing the possibilities of what trouble Nayeon could have been caught in.

“No, no. Last time I checked on her she was with Dahyun. She should be in good hands.” She heard Jeongyeon exhale in relief. “It’s more of, uh, how did you decide that Nayeon would be the one?”

“The one to what?”

“The one. You kinda look at her like you’d die for her.”

“I’d die for any of you idiots. I _am_ the tank.” 

“Jeongyeon don’t be difficult.”

That earned a laugh from Jeongyeon, and Jihyo couldn’t help but roll her eyes. They sat on the steps nearby, and Jihyo didn’t prod any further.

“I think it’s different for everybody, bud.” Jeongyeon was starting to pick the weeds by their feet. “And I’m only telling you this because I trust you enough to not inflate her big ego more, but she’s attentive. Always goes the extra mile for stupid things and grand things alike.”

“But you haven’t confessed to her, right?”

Jeongyeon shook her head. “No, not yet. She deserves something big. I don’t know what it is yet, but I’m working for it. Besides, I don’t have a deadline to beat.”

Jihyo shot her a questioning look.

“It’s not like Nayeon’s parents are demanding her to find a lover on the daily. Just saying.”

Jihyo tackled Jeongyeon to the ground, ending their conversation.

—

“Stop lurking and join me here, Ji.” Mina called out, and Jihyo should have known better than to try surprising the assassin.

“Where’s Momo?” Jihyo asked, settling beside Mina on the garden’s bench.

“What’s up?” Momo suddenly materialized beside her, and Jihyo may have fired a spirit ball to Momo in surprise.

“Momo what that fuck.” Jihyo shouted, and then, “Shit I’m sorry. Did it hurt?” She chanted a quick heal, and Momo’s grimace returned to her default grin.

“So, what can we do for you?” Momo asked.

“Sana.”

“Interesting. What about your girlfriend?”

“That’s it. She’s not my girlfriend.” Jihyo groaned, and maybe going to Momo and Mina wasn’t a good idea.

“You guys laugh, but maybe she’s not that into me. I don’t know.”

Apparently, their laugh could go louder.

“Ji, you guys made out the night you first met.”

“A momentarily lapse of judgment on her part.”

“Please, you’ve been constantly fucking around for the past year.”

_Fair point._

“A … constant lapse in judgement?”

“She gets mopey when you’re not around.”

“She gets mopey when anyone’s missing.”

“Sana _despises_ heights and the cold. All your rooftop sessions weren’t because she liked stargazing.”

“What?”

Mina and Momo exchanged smiles. “It’s true. But don’t tell her we told you. Can you stop second guessing yourself?” Momo said, patting Jihyo on the head.

—

“Tzuyu.” Jihyo started, watching Tzuyu prepare the quivers for her class later.

Tzuyu gave her a look, indicating that she was listening.

_Okay this is stupid. I will not involve Tzuyu in my indecisiveness._

“Sana?” Tzuyu asked, breaking the silence that settled between them; and if Momo gave Jihyo a heart attack last night, Tzuyu’s sudden question may have made a part of Jihyo’s soul fly out of her body.

“ _What_?” Because if Jihyo’s tracking was correct, Tzuyu and Chaeyoung still didn’t know about her whole thing with their resident wizard. Well, she hoped it was the case. Nothing spells out role models than being in a no-label relationship! (Jihyo really wanted to be somebody their babies looked up to, her thing with Sana was better left in the dark.)

“Hey Tzu, you mind if I borrow Jihyo for a bit?”

_Oh, it was Sana._

“Anything wrong?” Jihyo turned to face Sana, and she ran their schedules in her head. Only she and Sana were free today, the rest had some classes to handle. Maybe some problem with their lodging?

“It’s a free day. Let’s go out.” Sana smiled, and Jihyo was a goner.

This time, it was Jihyo who laced their fingers together.

(Sana’s smile grew wider.)

—

“How was the date?” Dahyun asked, winking when Jihyo sat beside her on the couch.

“It was nice. She toured me around the downtown market, and then we took a nap in some field nearby. I dropped her off at their mansion for her family dinner.”

“Oh, you’re not denying the date part. This is progress, I need to report this to Mina.” Jihyo slapped Dahyun’s arm. “You didn’t stay for dinner?”

Jihyo cringed. Sana _did_ invite her over for dinner. Multiple times.

“Some day, you will need to face her parents. They’re a nice bunch, actually. The Minatozakis.” The whole team may have been invited over for lunch for the past Sundays, all which Jihyo has been in a consistent state of making up excuses as to why she couldn’t go.

“This is such a mess.” Jihyo hugged a throw pillow, staring intently at the papers Dahyun had spread out.

“Hey! Nobody’s home yet. I’ll clean it up when they start arriving.”

“Oh, not your papers. I just… ugh.” Jihyo glared at the lone tulip on the coffee table, a gift Momo had surprised Mina with a few days ago. “Dubu, don’t have sex before the first date.”

Dahyun laughed. “I don’t think I will but yeah, okay, thanks for the reminder.”

—

They were three days from finishing their one-month stay in Payon, and Jihyo was getting restless.

Okay, this was the plan: she’d give Sana the ring she bought on whim earlier (the stone really matched the color of Sana’s eyes, who cares if it was expensive), confess, and ask her to be her girlfriend. Simple!

What could go wrong? (A lot, but Jihyo has been losing sleep over this and she _really_ just wanted to put a label on what they had– Sana deserves that.)

Anyway, that was the plan and Jihyo was sticking to the plan no matter what. Nothing could stop her.

Except maybe seeing Sana being dropped off by some tall, dark-haired, buff-bodied piece of testosterone.

_Oh, fuck me._

Sana’s eyes automatically travelled to where Jihyo was perched on, and she gave a wave. Jihyo waved back, maybe– she wasn’t sure, she was too engrossed in staring down the man beside Sana. What was the penalty exactly, if she started attacking civilians? She made a mental note to ask Dahyun about it tomorrow.

“Hi. Come down?” Sana shouted from the ground once her escort made his leave and Jihyo’s feet automatically followed.

“Hey. Welcome back.” Jihyo grumbled, but she was trying her best to not appear...

“Don’t be jealous now.” Sana teased, before kissing Jihyo on the lips.

“Not even a little bit?” Jihyo pouted, making Sana roll her eyes.

“You’re cuter than usual tonight. What are you planning?”

_Why is Sana so perceptive? It should be illegal._

Okay: ring, confess, ask. Okay.

Jihyo reached for the box in her pocket– and yes, it was still there. Like it was two minutes ago.

“Are we gonna go in? It’s getting cold.” Sana asked, snaking an arm around Jihyo’s waist in attempt to have more body heat. “What’s this?”

_Goddamnit, Sana._

“I, uh, yeah we should probably head inside.” Jihyo wrapped an arm around Sana and casually slipped the box into Sana’s hand. “That’s for you. You can keep it or throw it away, it’s whatever.” (It was _not_ whatever, it was expensive as hell and she may now have a better understanding of Momo’s financial crisis.)

Sana shrieked, colliding her body (more) into Jihyo’s. “It’s pretty!” More movements from Sana, and Jihyo wasn’t sure if the blonde was trying to hug her, dance with her, or spin her around. (Sana liked it! Okay, next step!)

“Heh. I’m glad I like you. I mean, you liked it. But also, I like you. A lot.” Sana stopped screaming and moving, her face now in a suspended state of disbelief. Jihyo was panicking. (Moving on!) “So, um, be my girlfriend? If you want to. No pressure. Hah.”

Sana laughed, and Jihyo didn’t know what it meant. Was Sana pitying her? Was Sana trying to soften the blow before she ultimately rejected her?

“That depends, are you _finally_ going meet my parents?” Sana asked, an eyebrow raised in question.

“Am I dating you or your parents?” Jihyo teased, letting herself free fall. Whatever. She went with the plan: ring, confess, ask. The ball was in Sana’s court now.

“Yah, don’t go all Mina on me.” Sana whined, giving Jihyo a quick peck on the lips. It was too quick, and Jihyo found herself stumbling into Sana as she chased the kiss. The collision made them fall to the ground.

“Want my kisses _that_ bad, Hyo?” Sana teased again, wrapping her arms around Jihyo’s neck. She guided Jihyo back to her lips before Jihyo could reply.

“Holy fucking shit.” Chaeyoung deadpanned when she slid the main door open , greeted by the sight of Sana and Jihyo making out on the grass.

“Language, little one!” Jeongyeon scolded, before redirecting her gaze to what Chaeyoung was looking at. “Oh, holy fucking shit indeed.”

In these moments, she was reminded that she was still living with eight other girls who took absolute delight in teasing the living out of her. A variation of squeals, I-told-you-sos, and pay-up could be heard.

Jihyo rolled over to Sana’s side, delaying the inevitable embarrassment of the upcoming teasing.

“Yeah, I’ll be your girlfriend, girlfriend.” Sana said before she got up. She offered a hand to Jihyo.

“Yeah? What time is the dinner with your parents tomorrow?”

—

“Breaking news! Children of the royal families, now dating! Never before seen pictures of the Myouis and Minatozakis on page six.” Impressive, Dahyun even knew how to read in Payonese. “Momo you look ugly in the picture. Jihyo, you too. Okay, this is a set-up. We _need_ to submit good pictures for the press.”

“Pack it up, Dubu. We’re leaving today. Those tabloids can go off.” Momo said, although the look of disgust on her face was a clear indication that she wanted to change her pictures as well.

—

Their breathing was starting to even out after all the panting, licking, grinding, and thrusting prior. Jihyo didn’t know how it was possible, but Sana looked even more beautiful than her usual post-sex glow. It was unreal.

(It made Jihyo fall harder.)

“You know, the night before we left, a lot of people went up to me asking for marriage.” Sana was tracing random nothings on top of the blankets that covered them.

Jihyo rolled her eyes and pulled Sana closer to her body. “Why? You can’t.”

Sana gave her a teasing look. “Why? Why can’t I?”

“You can’t because you’re my partner.” Jihyo replied, with an unintended growl finishing her sentence.

Sana laughed. “I like it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like repetition, so if you like it as well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter specifically. 
> 
> Also, let me drop the source of the last scene's script and the whole prompt for this one-shot turned multi-chaptered fantasy!au: it's from their 200925 [vlive](https://twitter.com/SubjectKpop/status/1309434980955648000?s=20), you know, the one.

**Author's Note:**

> P6L (this work) is purely self-indulgent on my part and if you reached this far in reading, thank you so much for the time.
> 
> Feel free to drop your comments! On anything, really.


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